Equine Surgery at the Ontario Veterinary College in the Early 20th Century.

Abstract

This article seeks to examine the history of equine surgery at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) in the context of the changing horse economy during the first half of the 20th century. We argue that despite the transition to livestock medicine, public health and small animal practice, the horse, especially as a surgical topic, retained a (diminished) place at OVC due to the lucrative new recreational equine market, the deep links between horses and veterinary medicine, and the equine focus for nearly half a century of Dr. W.J.R. Fowler, the College's primary surgical instructor.