"World Veterinary Year"

The world’s first veterinary school was founded in Lyon, France, in 1761, shortly followed by the Alfort veterinary school, near Paris, in 1764, both of them at the initiative of French veterinarian Claude BOURGELAT. This means that 2011 marks the 250th world anniversary of veterinary education. By setting up the world’s first veterinary training institutions, BOURGELAT created the veterinary profession itself. Thus, 2011 also marks the 250th world anniversary of the veterinary profession. Bourgelat’s genius did not stop there. As a result of his fruitful collaboration with surgeons in Lyon, he was also the first scientist who dared to suggest that studying animal biology and pathology would help toimprove our understanding of human biology and pathology. 2011 also marks the 250th anniversary of the concept of comparative biopathology, without which modern medicine would never have emerged. Therefore, it is not just the anniversary of the creation of the first veterinary school that we must be celebrating in France in 2011. The entire world must join with us in celebrating our veterinary profession, which has been working to improve both animal and human health for the past 250 years.