Professor claims vets treating pets causes food threat

Feb 15 2010 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

VETS treating pets are posing a threat to food safety, a North East professor claims.

The shift in practice from treating animals used for food on farms to looking after pets in urban communities is largely to blame, according to Philip Lowe, Duke of Northumberland Professor of Rural Economy at Newcastle University.

This is leading to a dwindling influence of vets in the public health arena, said Prof Lowe, who is based at the Centre for Rural Economy at Newcastle.

Prof Lowe said that the proportion of time vets in private practice spent treating animals used for food halved between 1998 and 2006.

Most vets run their own businesses, and pet owners have proved a more sustainable and lucrative source of income than farmers.

While sympathising with the need to make money, Prof Lowe laments this drift towards the profession turning into “another private sector service industry”.

He said: “I would argue that it diminishes the public standing of the whole profession. I certainly couldn’t imagine the medical establishment in this country accepting a role that marginalised public health, even if the NHS did not exist.

“More seriously for all of us, I believe that not involving vets in this important area also puts food safety in the UK at risk.