Professional veterinarians in Jerez de los Caballeros (Badajoz, Spain) during the 19th century

Abstract

Veterinarians had different names throughout the 19th century in Spain: veterinary surgeons, farriers, castrators, marshals, etc., and they were not professionally and socially recognized until the 20th century. In 1850 they were given sanitary and zootechnical responsibilities, although many of them continued practicing horse shodding. With the creation of veterinary schools, the foundations of modern veterinary medicine were established in Spain this has a special importance for public health issues, especially regarding figures like deputy veterinary and meat inspector, as they tried to understand the impact of animal diseases on the population who consumed animal meat. Studies in the Historical Archives of Jerez de los Caballeros (Badajoz, Spain) made it possible to analyze how veterinary professionals lived and worked there during the 19th century, how they settled in or left the city, how they treated epidemics in animals for human consumption, and how they suffered the economic difficulties of the period and the City. The destruction and loss of part of the Archives makes it difficult to obtain more data.