Veterinary Medicine and the Lifeboat Test: A Perspective on the Social Relevance of the Veterinary Profession in the Twenty–First Century

Over the past several decades, the veterinary profession in North America has become severely imbalanced and now serves society in a very lopsided way. What we do, we do very well. But what we do not do, or do too little, is a shameful disservice to society. What do veterinarians do? In North America in 2004, veterinarians do clinical practice, especially companion animal practice, and not much else. No detailed statistics on veterinary activity in Canada appear to exist, but Canadian statistics probably are very similar to those available for the United States. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, in 2002, 90% of all veterinarians were in clinical practice, and 75 % to 80% of practitioner time, or about 70% of total veterinary activity, was devoted to companion animals, mostly dogs, cats, and horses (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2003).