Devonshire August September 16

The Old Vet’nary
by Ken Watson
A Time We Have Lost
a friendly, family practice
I
suppose that if you imagine a
modern day vet, a picture comes
to mind of a smartly kitted type
in a state-of-the-art surgery or
visiting a modern farm. It was a
different story in the 1950-80's. It
was a time of great change, of post
war initiative and vigour. Most
students were ex-servicemen and
we were determined to build a
better world, and to do this we
took little heed of bureaucrats.
In the 50-70's we cleared the
country's cattle of TB from a level
of infection far, far worse than
anything seen today. But, then,
there were fewer badgers!
We spent little time in the surgery
and motored many miles on the
country lanes or city streets.
Personally I never wore a white
coat in surgery as I found it upset
my patients and I look upon the
Sat-Nav inspired navigation of
modern youth with amusement as
they try to find their way. I would
set off with the terse advice, "Go
past Tucker's farm, right at the
that veterinary study was the
most difficult course of the day,
and of course James Herriot. I
can certainly confirm that. It
consisted of a number of subjects,
all requiring much memorisation,
which dovetailed in over the basic
5 years, so that at anytime you
were taking 2 or 3 subjects and the
exams came at irregular intervals.
If you failed you were relegated to
repeat the subject, so that I knew
people who took as much as 8
years to complete the course.
In most practices the only backroom
staff was one hard worked
secretary, or wife, and a yard man,
so that if you owned your own
practice, there was a lot more to
it than just treating animals. Most
practices would board at least a
few dogs and cats. In Plymouth
I ran a large boarding kennels for
dogs and cats and later exotica,
from rabbits to reptiles, a very
busy clipping parlour - this was the
age of the poodle - a Quarantine
Station, and a transport business
'Wilson'
...Providing the highest standards
of professional veterinary care
OPENING TIMES
Monday - Friday: 8.30am - 6.30pm
Saturday: 8.30am - 12.30pm
Consultations by Appointment
EMERGENCY SERVICE
For out of hours veterinary attention
or advice please ring 01752 700600
PLYMOUTH
01752 700600
Burnett Road, Manadon,
Plymouth PL6 5BH
IVYBRIDGE
01752 690999
Cornwood Road, Woodlands,
Ivybridge PL21 9JJ
Part Time Clinic at Yealmpton
eagerly collected. Sawdust and
straw likewise, and chain-link
fencing was procured from a
Youth Remand Centre in Cornwall.
There were no ready made kennels,
by Richard Woodward
room and then shoot up to the
quarantine kennels to exercise and
clean there. I can assure you their
work did not suffer. Their Cowboy
or Lion clips were a joy to behold.
Another would be in charge of the
boarding kennels and anyone of
them would assist with operations.
These jobs were in such demand
that when I advertised a vacancy
there was a queue from the
surgery to the main road, some
50 yards long.
crossroads, and it's a mile on the
left". I cannot recall getting lost.
If so, you just stopped and asked
the way. Yet I regard those days as
the golden age of the veterinary
profession when its standing with
the public was the highest ever.
This may have been helped at
the time by a general consensus
collecting dogs and cats from
airports and ports for our own
and other quarantine stations.
That was 5 vigorous enterprises,
which meant a lot of logistics,
accounting and staff. Everything
was bought in bulk, and such
factory by-products as Farley's
Rusks and Ambrosia rice pudding
we made our own. I became an
expert in wire work, enough to
satisfy the MAAF inspectors.
In the early days there were no
veterinary nurses. We had what
we called surgery girls. They
were multi-taskers. For example
one would work in the clipping
Mine may have been an extreme
example, but many vets did
something similar. On the other
hand I once visited a practice
in Hayle where the vet's wife
earned more from her boarding,
clipping and dog breeding than
he ever did, or ever would, from
his veterinary practice. But then
he was pretty laid back. He spent
most days fishing from his boat,
and he showed me a telephone
box situated almost on the beach,
where he would land every 2 or 3
hours and phone home in case
he had any calls. When I visited
another vet in Ashburton, he
showed me a vast table in his
kitchen where he operated on
one end while his wife cooked at
the other.
continued on page 96
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