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About this book
Over the course of the 20th century, the relationship between Americans and their domestic animals has changed dramatically. In the 1890s, pets were a luxury, horses were the primary mode of transport, and nearly half of all Americans lived or worked on farms. Today, the pet industry is a multibillion-dollar-a-year business, keeping horses has become an expensive hobby, and consumers buy milk and meat in pristine supermarkets. Veterinarians have been very much a part of these changes in human-animal relationships. Indeed, the development of their profession - from horse doctor to medical scientist - provides an important perspective on these significant transformations in America's social, cultural and economic history. Susan D. Jones, trained as both veterinarian and historian, traces the rise of veterinary medicine and its impact on the often conflicting ways in which Americans have assessed the utility and worth of domesticated creatures. She first looks at how the eclipse of the horse by motorized vehicles in the early years of the century created a crisis for veterinary education, practice and research. In response, veterinarians intensified their activities in making the livestock industry more sanitary and profitable. Beginning in the 1930s, veterinarians turned to the burgeoning number of house pets whose sentimental value to their owners translated into new market opportunities. Jones describes how vets overcame their initial doubts about the significance of this market and began devising new treatments and establishing appropriate standards of care, helping to create modern pet culture. Americans today value domestic animals for reasons that typically combine exploitation and companionship. The study uncovers the extent to which veterinary medicine has shaped - and been shaped by -this contradictory attitude.
Contents
Contents: PrefaceIntroduction1. Doctoring a Nation of Animals at the Century's Turn2. Valuable Patients Horses and the Domestic Animal Economy3. The Value of Animal Health for Human Health4. The Value in Numbers Creating "Factory Farms" at Midcentury5. Pricing the Priceless Pet6. Reconciling Use and HumanitarianismNotes Essay on Sources Index
Customer Reviews
Biography
Susan D. Jones, D.V.M., Ph.D., is an assistant professor of history at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Out of Print
By: Susan D Jones
152 pages, 5 b/w photos
A well-researched book that explores the impact of the value of an animal or its species in shaping the development of the veterinary profession. Vet Med Today A fascinating read and was refreshingly not a tale of inexorable scientific and medical progress toward an idyllic present... brings to light the hows and whys of veterinary medicine and gave me a measure of self-awareness of my professional roots and current role in American society. -- Jodie Gerdin Journal of the History of Medicine This study by Susan Jones is very welcome. Based on a wide variety of scientific and popular sources, she has approached the history of veterinary medicine and the veterinary profession in twentieth-century America from a perspective of changing human-animal relationships, particularly the changing economic and emotional value of domesticated animals... Original and compelling. -- Peter A. Koolmees Medical History Jones's study reveals particularly well the dynamic connections between the history of veterinary medicine and the history of American cultural preoccupations with animals. -- Nigel Rothfels American Historical Review [ Valuing Animals] stimulates thought about the role of veterinarians and how veterinarians interact with their patients and with people who seek guidance and confirmation as to the value of animals. Anthrozoos 2004 [Jones] has a compelling view, and this book is a gem. -- G. Terry Sharrer Journal of American History 2004 Jones' lively and well-written book traces the evolution of the veterinary profession in the twentieth century from the 'horse doctor' of 1900 to today's scientific practitioner. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2005 A fascinating survey of the changing relationships between Americans and their animals, as mediated by the veterinary profession. Choice 2003 Thoroughly researched, with extensive endnotes (many annotated) and an essay on sources, this book makes important contributions to the diverse fields of economic sociology, comparative medicine, human-animal relationships, American history, and American popular culture. Choice 2003
