“Happy birthday and my very best wishes for the next 250 years!” were the words with which EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli formally opened the celebration of World Veterinary Year – Vet2011.

In the latter half of the 18th century, the suffering of sick animals in Europe caused grave concern. Animals were being treated by grossly ignorant farriers and other quacks such as the cow leech (healer).

The cow leeches were little more than herbalists: at best, they probably did nothing to prevent the recovery of their patients by natural means and at worst, they certainly inflicted unnecessary pain. Treating an open wound by inserting a boiled onion and salt surely caused undue pain. As most of the remedies by cow leeches were common knowledge, the cow leeches began to rely on incantations, charms and amulets in order to keep the confidence of their humbler clients.

The farrier was a different matter to the cow leech. Ordinarily, a person dealing in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses’ hooves and shoeing them, the farrier had taken over all responsibility for their health and considered himself “more than a cut above the cow doctor”.

During this time, farriery was potentially lucrative but lacked cachet. Farriers had a bad reputation but were indispensable to horse owners. They had a better reputation in mainland Europe than in other countries, as there was a greater incentive when the welfare of cavalry horses was a vital factor in national defence.

During this period, it was also vital to control the cattle plague that was ravaging Europe. In 1761, the French King Louis XV, worried about the ongoing devastation of cattle diseases, wished to promote their prevention, the protection of grazing land and the training of farriers. He appointed Henri-Leonard Bertin to manage this reform and Bertin proposed that a veterinary school should be founded in Lyon and that the director should be Claude Bourgelat. On 4 August 1761, a decree issued by the King’s Council authorised Bourgelat to “open a school in which the principles and methods whereby livestock diseases could be cured will be taught in public”.

Claude Bourgelat, a lawyer, moved into a career as an equerry, later becoming Director of the Lyon Riding School. From the riding arena to horsemanship, Bourgelat then went one step further into promoting the teaching of veterinary medicine. He directed the first veterinary schools, starting with the one in Lyon that was founded in 1761, and then the Maison d’Alfort school in 1764. From that time onwards, students from all over Europe went to the French schools to study and in turn opened veterinary schools in their respective countries, most of which still exist today.

As we mark 250 years of the veterinary profession, it is important to note that the vision on which it was founded − that of science-based veterinary medicine that recognises the links between human and animal pathology − is still strong today.

The year has been named ‘World Veterinary Year’ in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the first veterinary school. It is an important milestone for the profession and is an occasion to celebrate everything that has been achieved over those 250 years.

Vet2011’s motto is Vet for Health, Vet for Food, Vet for the Planet, which evokes the all-important role that veterinarians play in safeguarding human and animal health, in working to enhance food safety and in protecting the environment.

Sadly, the public is not really fully aware of the importance of the veterinary profession in serving mankind. Veterinary surgeons are in the unique position of being the only medical professionals trained to protect the health of both humans and animals. They are not only trained to protect the health and welfare of pets and livestock, as well as zoo, exotic, competition and laboratory animals, but play a vital role in environmental protection and biodiversity, food safety and public health.

Animal diseases cause losses of between 25 to 35 per cent in world animal production, and the veterinary profession is on the front line to control these diseases and is constantly being obliged to deal with new challenges such as emerging diseases affecting aquaculture and the effects of climate change. Rinderpest is the first disease to be declared eradicated worldwide.

Many people are surprised to learn that veterinarians also have a large part in the protection of human health, from controlling and eradicating zoonotic diseases (those that can be transferred from animals to humans), to ensuring safe animal food products on consumers’ tables. Zoonotic diseases such as brucellosis, tuberculosis, rabies and animal flu are a constant threat to mankind, whereas salmonella and e coli in food can cause epidemics in humans.

In Malta, although there is no Veterinary College, the veterinary profession has played a vital role over the years. Thanks to its vigilant vets, Malta has been kept free from rabies since 1911 and many animal diseases – and emerging ones – have been kept away from our shores.

Malta’s professionals have also contributed towards the eradication of diseases in other countries. Malta’s 1978 model for eradicating Foot and Mouth Disease has been applied throughout Europe and as a result, the disease has been eradicated from Europe. Prior to EU membership, Malta was the first country to eradicate both brucellosis and tuberculosis. In the control of brucellosis, it was the first country to apply micro-chipping in livestock, which identification is now being considered by the EU to be applied in the traceability of food animals. Again, the Malta brucellosis eradication model is being applied in a number of EU countries.

Up to 2005, Malta had a veterinary services structure that covered its responsibilities towards its role in applying the EU acquis covering the “stable to table” policy, and not least animal welfare.

This structure has now been taken up by not only EU countries but by others wanting to reorganise their veterinary services.

Although the Maltese Parliament has not as yet recognised the key role of veterinarians, most countries have done so, through their highest administrative and political institutions, and by designating 2011 as ‘World Veterinary Year’.

For example, last month the UK House of Commons recognised “the key role of veterinarians in a changing world where issues of public health, animal health and welfare and global food security are a constant threat”. And last December, the US Congress designating 2011 as ‘World Veterinary Year’, passed a resolution recognising “the important role veterinarians play, from taking care of beloved pets to ensuring the safety of [the] food we eat”.

Vet2011 has led to dialogue to consider the future of the veterinary profession over the next 250 years. At a world conference in Lyon, held in May, the delegates concluded that, in the light of the challenges facing society, the veterinary profession is more important than ever. Apart from their traditional role in animal health, veterinary surgeons will have to remain on the front line to ensure food of animal origin is safe to eat and to prevent the transmission of serious zoonotic diseases. The Maltese Authorities, in consultation with the Malta Veterinary Association, should also look to the immediate and long-term future of veterinary services and the profession, and re-establish a strong veterinary services organisation that covers all the modern responsibilities of the profession.

Carmel Lino Vella has been Malta’s Chief Veterinary Officer for many years and is now a consultant in the evaluation of veterinary services for the World Animal Health Organisation, the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.