Veterinary science, World War 1 and the profession

[Extract] For Australian veterinarians, World War I represents the last moments of an old, but precarious, regime, dominated by the horse. Veterinary surgeons were indispensable in a war that hinged on the performance of horses (and to a lesser extent camels and mules), just as they had been important in an economy literally driven by horse power. The social and economic responsibilities of veterinarians, however, were already shifting by the outbreak of war. Rather than horses, livestock industries demanded protection from animal disease outbreaks, especially through veterinary research. Veterinary science would develop even further in this direction after the war, when petroleum and coal finally triumphed as the foundation of power for transport and industry. The war forced a hiatus in the closure and professionalisation of the work associated with animal health, and the development of education that underpinned it. After the war, this process soon recommenced, now stimulated by the science that governments increasingly believed was needed to secure primary industries and structured by the interpersonal, professional networks that the war enabled.