Veterinary Science

The domestication of animals some 10,000 years ago represented a major step forward in the history of civilization, allowing humans to move beyond a hunter-gatherer society to a stable food supply based on animal ownership, as well as to established uses of animals for food, transport, locomotion, fiber, power, and for waging war. Of necessity, such a society inevitably gave rise to a class of individuals whose primary concern was animal health.

The first known historical mention of animal doctors occurs on a Sumerian tomb from about 2000 BCE, where the cuneiform text and accompanying illustrations indicate that the deceased performed healing of domestic animals, as well as providing obstetric advice and medical counsel. Rules governing veterinary surgery were articulated in the Code of Hammurabi some ...