176
"The Veterinary Assistant of Badaon sent to Mirzapur during May, June, and July 1896.
"The Veterinary Assistant of Naini Tal sent to Almora during August 1896.
"The Veterinary Assistant of Bijnor sent to Gonda in October 1896.
"The Veterinary Assistant of Shahjehanpur sent to Bareilly in October 1896.
"The Veterinary Assistant of Hardoi sent to Ballia during January and February 1897,
"The Veterinary Assistant of Shahjehanpur sent to Banda during March 1897.
"This plan of sending Veterinary Assistants out of their own districts is unsatisfactory for several reasons:—
"(a) District officers naturally dislike having their Veterinary Assistants removed.
"(b) In some instances shortly after the departure of the Veterinary Assistant to another district, an
outbreak of disease has occurred in his own, necessitating his return.
"(c) On going as strangers into other districts, zemindars do not at once place any confidence on
them, and are reluctant about taking their advice.
When available, a Veterinary Assistant was sent to the district where disease was reported as prevalent.
Vaccination for Rinderpest has not yet been adopted.
Treatment of Surra.—No cases have been treated."
In his report on the working of Veterinary Assistants in the Punjab, sub-
mitted with the Annual Report for 1895-96, my predecessor, Veterinary Cap-
tain Pease, dealt very fully with the matter, and I quite endorse his remarks.
During my last tour I had the opportunity of seeing the Veterinary Assistants
of each Tehsil, and while some of them seemed to be very anxious to do their
work, it was very evident that others did not go about among the villages of
their charge as often as they might have done. Many of these men, having
completed their two years' course at the Lahore Veterinary College, seldom see
any more practice, and when once appointed, think that there is little else
required of them than to attend at the Tehsil.
On making enquiries I found that only a few of these men were supplied
with instruments, and even then a pocket case was considered quite sufficient
for all requirements. Medicines were deemed to be quite unnecessary. Is it
possible that these men can do much good unless they are fairly well equipped
both with instruments and medicines ? Certainly the zemindars will have
little faith in these Veterinary Assistants unless they are able to prove them-
selves capable of treating animals successfully, and this they cannot be expected
to do unless they are supplied with remedial necessaries. Just fancy a
Hospital Assistant being attached to a Tehsilfor the purpose of curing diseases
without any medical or surgical appliances. The idea seems absurd, and yet
this is what is expected from the Veterinary Assistants.
With a view of getting the proposed " Bacteriological Survey " carried out,
my predecessor had a form printed in the Vernacular, and this has been distri-
buted among the Veterinary Assistants of the Punjab. The idea was that a
return, village by village, should be made from time to time in the form below,
so that a fair idea of the general distribution of the diseases which are at
present of most importance and interest might be obtained. A large number
of these reports have been received. The idea of this return is distinctly good,
as not only are we enabled to get the desired information, but it is also a check
on the work done by the Veterinary Assistants. These officials should also be
required to periodically inspect the Government bulls and send in a periodical
report as to their condition; whether they are doing satisfactory work, and as
to their suitability for the cows in the herds with which they roam. At present
many of these bulls lent by Government or by the District Boards are old and
worn out, unsuitable in size, or bad coverers, and are therefore held in dis-
repute by the zemindars much to the detriment of the advancement of
cattle-breeding. If this information was sent to the District authorities they
would no doubt rectify this by sending other more suitable sires to replace
those complained of. The form of return required to be filled up by the
Veterinary Assistants was very simple, as will be seen by the following:—
(1) State whether the village is low-lying or not.
(2) Give the names of the various contagious diseases (animal) known
to the people, both in English and Vernacular.
(3) When did each of these diseases occur last respectively during the
past three years, state in what month and how many animals
died.
Although simple, the returns give a fair idea as to what extent the various
diseases occurred, and also an approximate estimate of the annual losses
sustained When the survey is more amplified this information will no doubt
be very valuable.