TRIUMPHS OF THE ARMY VETERINARY SERVICE 



93 



1. By preventing the introduction and spread of contagious diseases. 



2. By reducing wastage among animals by means of prompt application 

 of first aid. 



3. By relieving the field army of the care of sick and inefficient animals, 

 the presence of which 



hampers mobility. l^spiS^':. 



4. By the treat- 

 ment in hospitals of 

 animals removed 

 from the field army. 



5. By the re- 

 plenishing of veterin- 

 ary equipment. 



Quite unneces- 

 sary is it to mention 

 here that the welfare 

 of our men is the 

 first and foremost 

 concern of the Army, 

 but that fact does 

 not lessen in the 

 slightest degree the 

 desire to do every- 

 thing humanly pos- 

 sible for the horse 

 and mule in sick- 

 ness. The functions 

 mentioned above, 

 therefore, are carried 

 out with unceasing 

 zeal, the main idea 

 always uppermost 

 being to keep the 

 front free of all but 

 fit animals. There 

 must always be a 

 certain amount of 

 sickness there, but it 

 is of the trivial kind 

 which does not call 

 for evacuation to the hospitals on the Lines of Communication. Such slight 

 sickness represents about 2 per cent, of the whole, and is dealt with by the 

 veterinary officers attached to units and at the mobile veterinary sections, 

 to which reference will be made in due course. It is quite true that the chief 

 enemy of our war animals is not the Boche with his shot and shell. He is 

 only responsible in the sense that he is the cause of the animals being where 

 they are. The real enemies are the hard weather, the hard conditions under 



The mange patient. Taking a plunge into the 

 calcium -sulphide bath. 



