PREFACE 
Following the publication of my ‘‘Legal Principles of 
Public Health Administration’’ there came a request 
for a handbook which could be used as a text in veteri- 
nary schools and agricultural colleges. About one-third 
of the graduates from the veterinary schools take the 
examination for entrance into the service of the national 
government, but up to the present time there has been 
no small text which gave them the needful information 
as to their duties, responsibilities, and limitations of 
authority in such service; and scientific farmers need 
a knowledge of their legal rights and liabilities in ani- 
mal husbandry. 
In writing the present work I have kept in mind the 
needs of several distinct classes, and have consequently 
divided it into four parts. The brief statement of the 
general legal principles involved, as found in Part I, 
is essential for all. 
Veterinarians in private practice need to know their 
legal rights, responsibilities, and liabilities. The best 
insurance against claims for damages is found in a 
knowledge of the requirements of the law. The writer 
has had his attention called to several cases in which 
veterinarians have incurred liabilities by innocently 
violating common legal principles. It is a mistake to 
depend too much upon a knowledge of enacted statutes. 
The common law is more frequently violated by vet- 
erinarians. These principles most applicable to private 
practitioners, as found in Part II, should be mastered. 
It is the veterinarian who is first consulted by animal 
owners when an animal has been injured, or has con- 
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