Veterinary professionals form an important part of critical personnel needs of the meat and poultry industry as disease free animals only can provide safety-assured meat products to the consumers. In India the meat industry is relatively small in size and very few veterinary staff work for this sector. Most of the graduates coming out of veterinary colleges are either absorbed by the government for servicing large milch animals like cows and buffaloes and others like sheep and chicken. There are government veterinary clinics all over the country and most rural families depend on these centers for managing their live stock, the service being practically free of cost. A small number of qualified veterinary professionals set up their practice mostly in urban centers for attending to the needs of pet animals maintained by those who are affluent enough to keep pets like dogs and cats. In contrast predominantly meat eating countries like the US have mandatory regulations to employ veterinary professionals in their abattoir and processing facilities to ensure only healthy animals are used in their operations. The meat products industry in the US already, reeling under massive recall of products from the market on safety uncertainties, is facing shortage of veterinarians for employment which may further aggravate the problem of quality control regimes in these facilities.
"A decline in the number of veterinarians who care for farm animals is raising concern about food safety, because large-animal veterinarians also work as inspectors at slaughterhouses and ranches, the Associated Press reports. "They're basically on the front line when it comes to maintaining a safe food supply, not only in the U.S., but in products we export," David Kirkpatrick, spokesman for the American Veterinary Medical Association, told the AP. "Vets diagnose diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans," However, vets are increasingly being drawn to the more lucrative practice of caring for pets. Between 1998 and 2009, the ranks of large-animal vets dipped from 5,553 to 5,040 , while those opting to treat small animals surged from 30,255 to 47,118. In a recent survey of graduating veterinary school students, only 2 percent said they would prefer to work mostly with large animals, and just 7 percent studied a curriculum that included both small and large animals. The trend is driven at least partly by money. According to the veterinary medical association, the salaries for large-animal vets average $57,745, compared to $64,744 for those treating small animals. To boost the number of large-animal vets, some states and schools have begun to offer incentives, such as loan repayment help for those who agree to work in farm regions or reductions in the time required to earn a degree".
With IT sector and legal professions attracting bright students because of their high potential for earning, there appears to be a dearth of students opting for veterinary courses in the US. Added to this the problem is further compounded by the fast growth of pet industry in the country which also needs the services of veterinary doctors. As the pet industry is capable of offering higher remuneration to the vets naturally new graduates find a career with them more lucrative. Probably such a situation in the US may provide opportunities for Indian veterinarians to offer their services to the US meat industry. A concerted move has to be made at government and trade association levels to establish a mutually beneficial program of "export" of the services of Indian veterinarians for working with US meat food industry for a period of 5-10 years till the shortage of native veterinarians is overcome..
V.H.POTTYhttp://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment