Girtler,R.:Get the cattle doctor!

The latest book by Roland Girtler is based on conversations with old and still active rural veterinarians and their families. A forestry officer in Matrei in East Tyrol recounts stories about his father, who was a rural veterinarian there and had to care for the horses in the old army as a military veterinarian during World War I. There is also a story about a rural veterinarian who worked in Viehdorf near Amstetten, a place where the priest was named Stierschneider. Rural veterinarians share their experiences of the transition from the old farming culture, which still included traditional small farmers, to industrial livestock farming. Hard work characterized the life of the livestock doctor, especially in mountainous areas where poor farmers paid for the treatment of their animals with goods. Rural veterinarians experienced real adventures when they were transported by material cable cars to high-altitude farms or traveled on foot, by bicycle, or motorcycle on rough roads to reach their patients. But not only animals were treated by the old rural veterinarians; sometimes, people were also treated, and they were often very satisfied with the care they received. It is an exciting world that is presented here, and it is worth remembering.