The Veterinary Profession Veterinarians care for pets, birds, livestock, sporting and laboratory animals, and protect humans against diseases carried by animals. Veterinarians diagnose medical problems, dress wounds, set broken bones, perform surgery, prescribe and administer medicines, and vaccinate animals against diseases. They also advise owners on care management and breeding of companion and farm animals. A number of veterinarians are engaged in research, food safety inspection or education. Some work with physicians and scientists on research to prevent and treat diseases in humans.
Veterinarians are also in regulatory medicine or public health.
Those who are livestock inspectors check animals for disease, advise owners on treatment, and may quarantine animals. Veterinarians who are meat inspectors examine slaughtering, processing plants, check live animals and carcasses for disease and enforce government food purity as well as sanitation regulations. Some Veterinarians care for zoo or aquarium animals or for Laboratory animals. Veterinarians help prevent the outbreak and spread of animal diseases, some of which like rabies can be transmitted to humans, and perform autopsies on deceased animals. Some specialize in epidemiology or animal pathology to control diseases transmitted through food animals and to deal with problems of residues from herbicides, pesticides, and antibiotics in animals used for food.