History of veterinary medicine in the Philippines

The history of veterinary medicine in the Philippines discusses the history of veterinary medicine as a profession in the Philippines. Its history in the Philippines began in 1828, while the Philippines was still a colony of Spain, progressing further during the time when the Philippines became a territory of the United States, until the establishment of the Philippines as an independent Republic in the modern-day era.

Although there was a Spanish Royal Decree that was issued on May 31, 1828 assigning that there should be one veterinarian for the Philippine islands (a number later increased to two veterinarians in 1843), the highlight of the history of veterinary medicine in the Philippines was in 1888, when the need to investigate the occurrence of the Rinderpest epizootic (cattle plague) in the Philippine islands emerged. The cattle plague that affected the cow and carabao (water buffalo) population between Manila and Bulacan were caused by sick animals that were imported from Indochina and Hong Kong. The Commission assigned to perform the investigation was appointed by Don Benigno Quiroga y Ballesteros, the Director General of the Administraction Civil de Filipinas (Civil Administration of the Philippines) during that time. The Commission was composed of an army veterinarian, a pharmacist, and a medical doctor. The army veterinarian and head of the Commission was Don Gines Geis y Gotzens. The pharmacist was Don Anacleto del Rosario y Sales, who at the time was the Director of the Laboratorio Municipal de Manila (Municipal Laboratory of Manila). The physician was Don Francisco Masip, an official in-charge of public health. The 1888 cattle plague (also known as steppe murrain) prompted the need for the services of veterinarians in the Philippines, including those from the ranks (commissioned officers) of the Spanish Army. The effects of the plague lasted from 1888 through 1939, meaning it moved on from Spanish period up to the American period in the history of the Philippines. From 1901 to 1902 alone, more than 600,000 cattle and water buffaloes were killed by the disease.

American occupation of the Philippines began in 1898. During the American period in Philippine history (1898-1946), the American government established the a veterinary department in 1899, a part of the Board of Health, the office that was in-charge of public health and safety. The government of the United States sent groups of American veterinary doctors to the Philippines to function as inspectors of cattle imported through Manila, as inspectors of both locally butchered and imported beef, as caretakers of the health of animals owned by the government (including the horses of American soldiers), and as sanitary inspectors of public and private stables. In 1899, 60 civilian American veterinarians were working hand-in-hand with the United States Army's Veterinary Corps. In 1905, the veterinary department was placed under the management of the Bureau of Agriculture (known at present as the Bureau of Animal Industry).

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