Smart Skills
PET project
Usha Albuquerque

For those with a love for animals, a career in veterinary science can be the purr-fect choice.

FROM grooming parlours and fancy coats to special diets and special classes, no cost is too much. We’re talking of pets here. More and more people today are keeping pets than ever before, both for companionship and for protection — and are willing to spend large sums on their furry companions.

And while dogs, cats, bears and even snakes are becoming popular as heroes and heroines of blockbusters, there is also an increased scientific interest in animals — Dolly the cloned sheep has hogged many news headlines — and a rise in the demand for animal products.

If you love animals and have a scientific bent of mind, veterinary science is a profession that will probably interest you. It deals with all scientific and medical matters concerning animals.

It also involves the control of diseases among animals, and the breeding and scientific handling of animals and animal products. Just imagine, you could be on the Tiger Task Force tracking the movements of tigers!

Most veterinary doctors, develop a particular area of expertise. As there are limited opportunities in areas of specialised research and breeding of animals in India, a majority of veterinarians choose to work in urban areas, where the work would mostly include the care and handling of domestic pets, or in the government’s animal husbandry departments. Some veterinarians also handle farm animals, such as cattle, or poultry, or work in a stud farm, handling and breeding horses.

As with a doctor handling the medical ailments of human beings, a veterinarian’s work involves 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.

There is also a demand for discipline training and grooming of pets, particularly dogs and cats.

There are those who go into research, conduct scientific breeding of animals, using artificial insemination, or in-vitro fertilisation. Veterinarians also experiment using other 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.

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.VSc course varies from four-and-a-half years to 5 years, which also includes 6 months of internship. During the course, apart from learning how to treat animals, training is also provided in dairying and poultry sciences.

After completing B.VSc, you can continue with a masters in veterinary science, which is a two-year course. You can also choose an area of specialisation for the Master’s programme — medicine, surgery, gynaecology, pathology, pharmacology, etc

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

Qualified veterinary doctors in urban areas normally set up private practice where they deal with domestic canine and feline pets. Veterinary doctors in government hospitals in cities may find themselves handling mainly domestic pets, but 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.

The dairy sector employs a large number of veterinary doctors who work at ensuring increasing yields in milk production, and also the health and breeding of dairy cattle.

There are also 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.

Veterinary doctors are also employed in the R & D departments of pharmaceutical companies, where they 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. Veterinarians are therefore employed by zoological parks and wildlife sanctuaries where they would handle the health of the animals, and the captive breeding of wild animals, feared to be getting extinct. They would 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.

As a vet doing private practice you can start with a salary of around Rs 10,000-12,000. But this will increase with experience. You may in time be able to set up your own practice too. Government veterinarians will be eligible for the regular government pay scales prevalent in each state.

But to be a good vet you should have a genuine love for animals. Moreover, working with animals, particularly large ones, requires physical stamina, quick body reflexes, powers of observation, the ability to evoke confidence in animals and an ability to put up with disagreeable conditions.

The greatest satisfaction comes from working in an area of interest, and also being able to alleviate the pain of an animal. Moreover, with increasing interest in the rearing of pets, this field is becoming lucrative too. There is also an urgent need for dedicated veterinarians and wildlife experts to help protect our fast-dwindling tigers, lions and other endangered species.

So, if you love animals, find science interesting and enjoy the challenge of working under all kinds of circumstances, veterinary science is probably the ideal career for you.

The writer is a noted career expert