I’m not a vegetarian, so in that respect, I have no problem eating animals (if ethically raised, etc). But I have no relationship to the animals I eat. I wouldn’t eat my pets, yet for some of the farmers in All Creatures Great and Small, it teeters quite close to that.
Kit was a lorry driver who, like so many of the working men of Darrowby, kept a pig at the bottom of his garden for family consumption. The snag was that when killing time came, Kit wept for three days. I happened to go into his house on one of these occasions and found his wife and daughter hard at it cutting up the meat for pies and brawn while Kit huddled miserably by the kitchen fire, his eyes swimming with tears. He was a huge man who could throw a twelve stone sack of meal on to his wagon with a jerk of his arms, but he seized my hand in his and sobbed at me, “I can’t bear it, Mr. Herriot. He was like a Christian was that pig, just like a Christian” (p. 277).
So while I wouldn’t exactly use the word “contradictory,” I would say it must certainly be difficult to be a carnivore in that situation.
Hmm … do vets today treat “all animals great and small” …
The vets I go to treat “all animals small.” Well, not really. They refer to a nearby animal hospital that really does treat all small animals. It’s more or less referral only and the vets are specialists in their fields. It’s a far cry from Herriot’s veterinary practice. I wonder what he would think of the technology. Siegfried would have liked it as you don’t necessarily need to develop a rapport with the owner. You’re sort of there and gone, assuming all goes well. One of my cats had surgery there. I’m grateful as my vet could not have done the surgery (fractured hip). Cat is fine now and wouldn’t have been otherwise.
Still, it seems to stick with “animals small.” Note in the video the avian and exotic animal section: rabbits, hedgehogs, turtles, etc. (A neighbor’s turtle had a blood transfusion there. Don’t judge.)
It depends, out here in rural Midwest they are definitely doing great and small. The vet for our dog and cats is also out on the farms doing cattle and pigs. We often notice him getting called out of church during calving season. He’s having a hard time finding a partner, particularly one willing and sturdy enough to handle the large animals. Many of the new grads want to work in places like you mention.
My sister thought she wanted to be a vet, and got us started on the Herriott books and PBS show. She was way too squeamish though. I considered it for a time too in high school, so I followed each of the two vets in town. One took me out to work cattle and pigs. He wanted me to carry some piece of equipment but then commented I was probably too small. Dang it I made sure to lug that thing along. Second vet had me watch a dog spay and I couldn’t hack it. Thus ended that idea.
My high school has had an internship program since the 1970s. The headmistress once joked to about the many, many girls who learned they didn’t actually want to be vets.
I once shared a house with several vet students. I soon learned that dinner conversation with them was not for the squeamish … lots of details about bovine examinations that didn’t necessarily pair well with my burger.
That reminds me of the chapter in All Creatures Great and Small when James is carrying the heavy equipment, panting as he tries to keep up with the farmer:
I eased my box of instruments from the car boot. It was a funny thing but whenever I had heavy equipment to lug about, my patients were always a long way away. This box seemed filled with lead and it wasn’t going to get any lighter on the journey down through the walled pastures (p. 280).
Were they eating burgers, too? I’ve wondered if being a vet makes you more apt to be vegetarian, or if it’s possible to completely disconnect from the fact that you’re eating the same sort of animal whose life you might have saved earlier in the day.
I don’t think I could be a vet or a farmer and still eat meat. I know it’s silly for me to think that way. The animals are still the same. I would be the one who was different. I would feel differently about the animals if I knew them. I would give them names, know their personalities and definitely have an emotional attachment.
The earlier question about local vets being small animal and/or large animal got me to look up our veterinarian office to see what they do. I assumed just small animals and was correct. We still have a few small farms around my area and lots of horses, so I knew at least one of the veterinarian offices around here had to service large animals. I looked it up and most offices were either just for small animals or just for large animals. There were a couple who did both. I also saw one who just did horses.
I wouldn’t want to say so under oath, but I think they were. My biggest culinary memory from that time was that one of them was a marathon runner and swore by his breakfast of beer poured over Cocoa Krispies.
My vet clinic has three vets. Two vets do only small animals but the third vet does both small and large animals. I have a friend and her daughter specializes in fish and reptile medicine but she also does dogs and cats.
Obviously I’ve been among the missing on this thread! I’m taking an online genealogy course and time has gotten away from me. I still hope to read the book, so will come back and check out all the comments. See you all for the next selection.
I’ve wondered if being a vet makes you more apt to be vegetarian, or if it’s possible to completely disconnect from the fact that you’re eating the same sort of animal whose life you might have saved earlier in the day.
for the above post and for some reason it’s not registering. Regardless – 