Civil Veterinary Department.
Annual. Administration Report of the —
and the Annual Report on the working of
the Glanders and Farcy Act in Bombay
for the year 1904-05.
No. 9468.
REVENUE
DEPARTMENT.
Bombay Castle, 23rd November 1905.
Letter* from the Principal, Bombay Veterinary College, No. 179-L., dated 19th May 1905.
Letter† from the Director of Land Records and Agriculture, No. A.—6745, dated 20th
September 1905—Submitting the Annual Administration Report of the Civil Veterinary
Department in the Bombay Presidency for the year 1904-05.
RESOLUTION.—The report shows that there has been no falling off in the
work clone by the Department throughout the year.
2. It is somewhat disappointing that with an increase in the number of
dispensaries there should be a slight falling off in the number of patients treated.
The reasons given for fluctuation in the numbers are not always convincing.
For instance, it is absurd to say that a falling off of 24 patients in Surat was
duo to plague and the starting of an Itinerating Dispensary. The reasons given
also appear to be frequently those assigned by the graduate in charge. What
is required is the Superintendent's own opinion. In particular it should invari-
ably be stated how far the attendance has been affected by the energy and
influence of the graduate. With satisfactory exertions on his part there Ought
to be very few dispensaries at district head-quarters with an attendance of
less than 2,000, which is less than 6 per diem. A reason occasionally assigned
for increased or diminished attendance is the extent to which epidemic disease,
such as foot and mouth, prevailed in the district. This no doubt is bound to
bo a potent factor in influencing attendance, but there must be a large
residuum of miscellaneous ailments and injuries which an energetic graduate
would get hold of. The work of Messrs. Háji in Karachi and Bhat in Ahmed-
abad as usual stands out pre-eminent, The graduate in charge of Ratnágiri
dispensary seems also to have distinguished himself both at head-quarters and
outside it. The attendance at Dhulia appears to be very satisfactory, con-
sidering the size of the place. The increased attendance at the Poona City
Branch Dispensary is satisfactory, but the Superintendent ought not to rest
content until that institution shows an attendance exceeding 3,000. The so-
called District Dispensary evidently in no way competes with it, since the bulk
of the animals there treated are horses and dogs, belonging probably mostly
to European residents of Poona and Kirkee. The more reasonable arrange-
ment would be that the District Dispensary, with full buildings and equipment,
should be in the city, and the Branch, with facilities for lecturing to the College
of Science, at Kirkee, The question of modifying the arrangements of these
two dispensaries has been frequently discussed. But the matter should be kept
alive, and the Director of Land Records and Agriculture and the Superin-
tendent should again consider whether any improvement of the existing
arrangements is not possible, and should submit a report on the subject after
consultation with the authorities of the Poona College of Science and the
District Local Board, At Thána the attendance is so extraordinarily small
as to require special explanation. In this respect it is altogether eclipsed by
such insignificant places in the Konkan as Alibág and Ratnágiri. The Super-
intendent should report whether the competence of the graduate has anything
to do with the poor results, or whether it is desirable to move the dispensary
elsewhere, say to Kalyán.
* Printed in the report.
† Not priutud.
Rev 2744