Constructive Cooperation in Nontherapeutic Veterinary Institutions An Historical Perspective

This essay compares two cases of collaborative working within non-clinical veterinary institutions during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) episode in the final decade of the twentieth century. During routine diagnostic duties at the University of Bristol’s Veterinary School, the first case of feline spongiform encephalopathy was identified in a cat in May 1990. This had significant political and public health consequences and demonstrated an exemplary relationship between academic and state veterinary scientists. In contrast, Official Veterinary Surgeons working in slaughterhouses under the Meat Hygiene Service, established in 1995, often experienced a tense relationship with slaughterhouse operators. The introduction of BSE controls fuelled hostilities toward veterinary supervisors in the abattoir but also drove them in support of each other to ensure the enforcement of these regulations. Using previously unstudied papers of the Chief Veterinary Office, original oral history and BSE Inquiry evidence, this essay reveals the centrality of collaboration and professional boundaries in the identification of a new disease and in strengthening the veterinarian’s role in public health during an animal health crisis.