VETERINARY DEONTOLOGY. 
423 
VETERINARY DEONTOLOGY. 
By W. J. Coates, D. V. S. 
Read before the New York State Veterinary Society. 
At the last would-be meeting of the New York Veterinary Society 
I was sorry to hear some of the members say that if the meetings are not 
better attended than they had been, the Society would become defunct. 
While this would be a termination to be deeply regretted, would it not 
be a better one than to leave it gradually falling into disrepute and its 
end be a society without members ? It is a disgrace to the profession 
that such remarks had to be made by the only workers of the Society. 
I am sorry to say that there are but a few who attend the meetings, and 
it is always the same faces over and over again ; apparently the others 
find neither pride nor pleasure in doing so, and presumably can find no 
profit in it. Some say they live too far away, and when they do come, 
find nothing interesting ; while others say that the one that was ap¬ 
pointed to read a paper is not here, or if he is here, has forgotten all 
about it, or could not write on the subject given him. These are the 
reasons given by them for their non-appearance. This is a lame ex¬ 
cuse. The veterinary profession, as you all know, is, at present, at a 
very low standing. And why ? Because its members are not trying to 
uphold it. They lose all interest in it and their brethren members, 
and oftentimes have no respect for themselves or any one else, and put 
themselves on an equal footing with a quack. Still they will say : “ I 
don’t see how*it is that we men of science should not be recognized by 
the sister profession and laity ; a member of the sister professfon is ad¬ 
mitted to all kinds of society, and we are not ; if we go to Europe we 
see a Veterinary respected as well as the human, and still I don’t see 
why it is not the same in this country.” It is because the people of 
Europe were educated to it by the self-respect a veterinarian held for 
himself and his profession, but more than all by the associations they 
have formed, which bring to the notice of the sister profession and the 
people the work they are doing. They stick to each other, improve 
themselves and their science, and by their researches have saved the 
lives of many human beings, as well as millions of dollars’ worth of 
stock, stamping out the different diseases, and keeping the country in a 
good hygenic condition. Is it so in America? No. The people were 
never educated to that point to know what a veterinarian is ; they see 
