Request to cancel a veterinary appointment for the Dutch East Indies in 1890

Abstract

In 1890, all of a sudden the small veterinary world in Java was startled by the appointment of a gepatenteerd veearts, a ‘patented’ veterinarian. The Board of Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Science in the Dutch Indies, founded in 1884, sprang into action and wrote a request to the governor-general. This twelve page letter was published in the Veterinary Pages for the Dutch Indies and was striking in its directness of argumentation as to why the board of this association thought this man was unacceptable. What was the matter, what did ‘patented’ veterinarian mean and why was the veterinary community so upset by this man? What kind of tasks did veterinarians have over there that they felt this appointment was undesirable? Read full abstract in the WAHVM 2020 proceedings https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/74425)