CHAPTER ONE T H V M Teamwork is often required when veterinarians work with large animals The veterinary team located the injured bull elephant along the shore of Lake Vembo They quickly shot the elephant with a tranquilizer dart Heavily sedated the elephant sat down It would now be safe to examine 4 21st CENTURY SKILLS LIBRARY
and treat the animal’s wound Exotic animal vets Sharon Deem and Stephen Black removed the snare from the elephant’s leg The wound was very deep The vets hoped the elephant would recover full use of its leg They treated the wound and gave the elephant penicillin and a tetanus shot A few days later the bull elephant was spotted feeding in the area He was moving well and appeared to be on his way to a full recovery For the two vets it was just another day on the job Both vets are trained in healing exotic animals and wildlife Veterinarians work to make sure that animals everywhere are being taken care of About 10,000 years ago humans in Mesopotamia began domesticating animals Mesopotamia is an area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southwest Asia They raised goats cattle pigs and sheep on their farms Goats COOL CAREERS VETERINARIAN 5
and sheep provided hair and wool for making cloth Goats and cattle provided milk for cheese and butter Animals were also slaughtered to provide meat Raising these animals meant having the responsibility Herders depend on animals to make a living Veterinarians work hard to keep the herds healthy of caring for them For thousands of years that duty fell on farmers and herders 6 21st CENTURY SKILLS LIBRARY
Healers who took care of humans also delivered foals calves and lambs They were called on to treat sick and wounded animals Records of these early veterinary efforts appear in an Egyptian medical textbook that is almost 4,000 years old The text describes diseases of cattle dogs and birds Other Egyptian texts show an understanding of animal anatomy symptoms of animal diseases and specific treatments The Romans Greeks and Hebrews also had healers who cared for animals By the 1700s people in Europe and North America felt the need for doctors who could take care of their animals Farmers had to keep their livestock healthy They depended on horses or mules for transportation They sold cattle sheep or pigs to make money They also wanted to prevent diseased animals from spreading the illness to humans These needs led to the establishment of veterinary schools COOL CAREERS VETERINARIAN 7
