Veterinarians Care

Veterinarians make a lifetime commitment to the welfare, humane treatment and care of animals. They are a vital element of agriculture's effort to ensure the safety of our food supply. The veterinarians in food animal practice are involved in this effort on a daily basis, both through private clinical practice and public or institutional practice. The federal government is the largest single employer of veterinarians in the nation.

Through the Minnesota Board of Animal Health at the state level and the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the federal level, veterinarians are involved in regulatory programs to ensure the wellness of food animals on farms. Immunization programs and other health measures are utilized to achieve this goal. Farm animals must be free from tuberculosis, brucellosis, rabies and other diseases transmissible to humans or other animals. It is also essential that measures be taken to prevent the introduction of foreign animal disease, which might devastate American livestock industries, and also be harmful to humans.

Veterinarians are also involved in the enforcement of federal laws through the Federal Drug Administration to ensure the safety, purity, potency and efficacy of all drugs and vaccines approved for use in feeds or medication for farm animals.

There are over 1600 veterinarians in Minnesota, and over 60,000 nationally involved in the practice of veterinary medicine. All are subject to state and federal regulatory agencies that govern the practice of veterinary medicine. More than 75% of them are engaged in the private clinical practice of food producing animals, horses and companion animals; another 25% are involved in institutional practice such as education, research, regulatory medicine, public health or industrial medicine.

Veterinarians are governed by a rigorous code of ethics which informs their commitment to the welfare and humane care of animals on the farm, in zoos, in biomedical research laboratories, public exhibitions, or in the home.