Book Review of The Goat Production Manual 2nd Edition

Aspiring goat producers get textual help

By BARB GLEN, EDITOR

Western Producer
23/09/2010 12:00:00 AM

When Dr. Marion (Meg) Smart offered us a copy of her book,Goat Production Manual, A Practical Guide (Second Edition),we seized it as an opportunity to learn more about the subject. Smart, a veterinarian and professor with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, has a long history with theProducer,so it was a pleasure to receive a copy.

But there’s no sense pretending anyone on staff can objectively review its contents. None of us raise goats. As

Smart says in the chapter entitled My Goats, “I

always advise my students to listen to the seasoned producer, as nothing upsets a good theory like a little experience.”

Lacking aforementioned experience, allow us to at least observe that the book offers information on goat nutrition, health, breeding, common diseases and medications. It’s easy to read and understand.

The book says that “worldwide, people eat seven times more goat meat than beef.” Wikipedia, which is quite arguably a less reliable source than Smart, says goat is a distant fourth globally, behind pork, beef and chicken. Other sources at the universities of Alabama, Texas A&M and Auburn maintain that goat meat comprises 63 percent of all red meat consumed worldwide.

Suffice to say that goat meat is a popular protein, particularly in the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Mexico and the Caribbean. Its popularity is also increasing elsewhere.

Smart’s book arrived just after we had requested a review copy of the recently releasedRaising Goats forDummies.

As its name implies, the book starts with the bare basics, from getting acquainted with goats to 10 misconceptions (No. 1: Goats will eat anything.) Author Cheryl K. Smith raises goats, and we were intrigued by a note that she also served as legal counsel for the American Goat Society. What legal trouble might goats or goat societies get into? We know from Smart’s book that goats are intelligent, but apparently they are not as smart as lawyers.

Our assessment of the two books: If you have goats, Smart’s book is a good resource. If you’re just thinking of getting goats, start with the Dummies book. Once you’re in business, Smart’s book will serve well.

THE NEPAL VETERINARY SCHOOL PROJECT

The Nepal Veterinary School Project

By Barry Burtis D.V.M

In April, 2006, along with one of my business partners, Dr. Ron Fox, I visited Nepal. In many, many ways it was a very memorable trip. We experienced a culture very different from our own. We saw spectacular mountain vistas on our journey to Mt. Everest Base Camp. We tasted new foods and learned new words. However, as often is the case, in my experience, meeting new people and making new friends is often the best part of travel.

Our visit to Nepal has also resulted in continuing efforts to assist some of our new friends, as well as other people and animals in that country. After our trek in the Himalayas, we travelled south from Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, to visit the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science in Rampur. It was there that we visited the veterinary school associated with Tribhuvan University. We spoke to the students about the veterinary profession in Canada. We met the faculty, learned about their training, saw their dedication to teaching veterinary medicine and came to understand some of the challenges of training future veterinarians in one of the poorest countries in the world.

We also realized that every year veterinarians in Canada were throwing away textbooks that were twenty years newer, with more up to date knowledge, than veterinary students in Nepal had access to in their library. As a result, beginning in 2007 and each year since, we have collected used, donated, veterinary textbooks at the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association Conference and shipped them to Nepal.

In 2008, my wife Donna and I visited Nepal. Of course, as part of our visit, I wanted to return to the veterinary school. I was very happy to see a cabinet filled with books from Ontario and to learn they were being used and much appreciated.

We have no plans to discontinue the book collection that has been so successful. However, there are a few difficulties with the effort. Books are very heavy items. It costs about $175.00 Cdn. to ship 20 kg. of books, surface route to Nepal. It does not take many books to reach that weight. Also libraries at universities in Canada and book shelves in animal hospitals in Canada are relying less and less on books and more on electronic and internet sources of information and learning. CD’s and DVD’s are used in teaching modules for veterinary students and continuing education for graduate veterinarians. The veterinary school in Nepal needed help to realize the benefits of this kind of learning. The people there are computer literate, they just lack the finances to get the computer hardware. Also, now the decade long revolution, in Nepal, has ended and a more stable, democratically elected government is in place. Communication towers should be safe. We felt the school should enter the electronic education era. If successful, it would also reduce the need to ship books half way around the world.

Therefore a year ago, in April 2009, we began a campaign to raise funds to allow the purchase of some computers to assist in the training of veterinarians at the school in Rampur. We called it the Nepal Veterinary School Project (NVSP). Our plan was endorsed by Veterinarians Without Borders/Veterinaires Sans Frontiers (www.vwb/vsf.ca)who agreed to assist us in the effort. Lifelearn, is an educational publisher and interactive digital media developer with products and services for veterinary continuing education, located in Guelph. They promised to donate educational modules and also made a monetary contribution to the effort. I have spoken to veterinary associations across the province asking for support. At present, thanks to these associations, individual veterinarians and other interested persons, we have almost reached our goal of raising ten thousand dollars.

As a result, Dr. Fox and myself, with our wives, are scheduled to return to Nepal in October. We plan to complete the project by gifting the school with the funds to purchase computers. I truly believe it is a project that has the potential to positively impact the lives of many people and animals in Nepal. They are both very deserving of that benefit. We are directing our appeal to those interested in small ruminants, in particular, because goats are a very common species raised in Nepal. Any CD’s or DVD’s pertaining to goat health or husbandry would be appreciated. We would also be most grateful to interested readers for a donation, of any amount, to help us with this project. To make a donation and receive a charitable donation receipt or learn more about the NVSP, please contact me at burtis@sympatico.ca or visit our website at www.baycitiesanimalhospital.ca