Smart Skills
No beastly choice, this
Usha Albuquerque

Love me, love my pet … is the mantra of today. More and more people are keeping pets than ever before, both for companionship and for protection. There are dedicated pet shops, pet parlours where your dog or cat can get a haircut and shampoo, and special shelters, where your pet can be trained, or looked after when you are away. Dogs, cats, bears and even snakes are becoming popular as heroes and heroines of blockbuster movies. Who hasn’t seen and loved Babe, Beethovan and Stuart Little. There is also an increased scientific interest in animals — Dolly, the cloned sheep, has hogged many news headlines — and an increase in the demand for animal products.

Veterinary science is a profession that deals with all scientific and medical matters concerning animals. It also involves the control of disease among animals and man. With the increasing spread of diseases like bird flu, dengue and chikungunya, trials of new drugs and vaccines are conducted using animals. There is also the breeding and scientific handling of animals and the manufacture of animal products.

Work of a vet

Most veterinary doctors, develop a particular area of expertise. A majority of veterinarians choose to work in urban areas, where the work involves the care and handling of domestic pets. Veterinarians can also work in the government’s animal husbandry departments, or handle farm animals, such as cattle, horses or poultry.

As with a doctor handling the medical ailments of human beings, your work as a veterinarian will involve diagnosing the ailment of an animal, through physical and clinical examination, and the administration of appropriate medication. It also involves the timely administration of vaccines for preventing disease, and advising on matters of nutrition and medical care.

You can also go into research, or conduct scientific breeding of animals, using artificial insemination, or invitro-fertilisation. Veterinarians also experiment using animals to control diseases spread by animals , and work in other research areas such as animal genetics, embryo transfer, vaccine testing and production and so on.

Eligibility

To practice as a vet it is essential to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in veterinary science (B.VSc.). This course is open to students who have passed the Class XII examination with Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Admission to most veterinary colleges is on the basis of results obtained in the entrance examination conducted by the university concerned.

The duration of training for the B.V.Sc course varies from four-and-a-half to five years, which also includes six months of internship In the course of the training programme, apart from learning to treat animals, training is also provided in dairying and poultry sciences.

After completing the B.VSc, you can continue to study for the postgraduate course in Veterinary Science, a Masters in Veterinary Science, which is a two-year course. You can choose an area of specialisation for the Master's programme — medicine, surgery, gynaecology, pathology, pharmacology, etc

There are veterinary colleges in almost all states which offer both graduate and postgraduate courses in veterinary sciences and animal husbandry.

Job opportunities

With a Bachelor’s degree in veterinary science you can start practicing as a vet, although some years of experience working with a senior veterinary doctor may be useful. Most qualified veterinary doctors set up private practise in urban areas where they deal with domestic pets — dogs, cats, birds, squirrels, rabbits and so on. Veterinary doctors can also apply for jobs in Government hospitals in cities, where may find themselves mainly handling domestic pets, although government postings can also be in rural and semi-rural areas where responsibilities extend to cattle, sheep, goats, horses and poultry etc.

Those who join government service are also often required for extension programmes at the block level, to educate and encourage livestock farmers to build up the quality of their animal stock., and handle the control and eradication of any notifiable disease.

They also advise on animal farm management and animal health problems.

There are also jobs in the dairy sector where veterinary doctors work at ensuring increasing yields in milk production, and also the health and breeding of dairy cattle.

There are increasing opportunities in cattle development programmes, for those interested in research. Cattle breeding farms and Artificial Insemination centres all over the country provide input and extension support for the scientific breeding programmes of the government.

You could also join the R & D department of pharmaceutical companies, where you would handle the production of vaccines or development of animal feeds and fertilisers.

Another area of work for veterinarians is in poultry farms, for maintaining the health of poultry birds and to develop strains with high egg productivity, as well as poultry for table consumption. This is an area where veterinarians can with relatively small amounts of capital, and some experience, set up their own poultry farms.

There are also opportunities for veterinary doctors in the armed forces. The Army Remount Veterinary Corps, equivalent to the Army Medical Corps, take on trained veterinary doctors as direct recruits. They are entrusted with the care of all defence animals, including horses, ponies, camels, mules, cattle, and poultry, and sniffer dogs for bomb detection.

Breeding of race horses is another area of specialisation for veterinarians. With millions being spent on the care of thoroughbred horses, veterinarians play a very important role in ensuring the complete diet, health, care and physical fitness of horses in a stud farm.

With increasingly environment consciousness, vets are also required for the care and protection of wild animals, in captivity as well as in sanctuaries. Zoological parks and wildlife sanctuaries employ veterinarians to care for the animals, and for the captive breeding of wild animals, feared to be getting extinct. They also control the spread of diseases among animals, and help maintain the ecological balance in the forest areas.

Postgraduates in veterinary sciences can also opt for teaching or research.

Skill set

But this is a career only suitable for those who have a genuine love for animals. You also need to be physically strong - working with animals, particularly large ones, requires physical stamina, have quick body reflexes, powers of observation, the ability to evoke confidence in animals and an ability to put up with disagreeable conditions.

So, if you love animals, find science interesting and enjoy the challenge of working under all kinds of circumstances, veterinary sciences is probably the ideal career for you. The greatest satisfaction comes from working in an area of interest, and also being able to understand and alleviate the pain of an animal. Moreover, with increasing interest in the rearing of pets, this field is becoming lucrative too.

Training talk

A few of the prominent Veterinary Colleges across India include:

• College of Veterinary Science, Hisar, Haryana.

• Dairy Science College, National Dairy Science Institute, Karnal, Haryana.

• Bombay Veterinary Science College, Mumbai.

• Gujarat College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anand, Gujarat

• College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad.

• Madras Veterinary College, Vepery, Chennai.

• College of Veterinary Science, Ludhiana, Punjab.

The writer is a noted career expert