A Brief History
On August 4th, 1761, the first veterinary school of medicine was founded by Claude Bourgelat in Lyon, France.
Digging Deeper
Claude Bourgelat did not study veterinary medicine himself; he had studied law but later directed an academy for horseback riding. He soon became an authority figure on horse management, and he wrote books on the morphology and anatomy of horses. His reputation brought him to the king’s attention, and the royal horse breeding program in the French province of Lyonnais was put under his supervision.
In addition to founding the first veterinary school of medicine in Lyon, Claude Bourgelat also founded another school in Alfort near Paris. Some of his students spread the concept across Europe and founded schools in Vienna, Austria and in Göttingen, Hannover, Berlin and Munich in Germany.
Today there are approximately 450 veterinary schools of medicine across the entire world. It was from the Free University of Berlin in Germany that Dr. Michael Meyer, co-founder of the Tourey and Meyer Veterinary Clinic in the Gambia, Africa, received his degree.
The Gambia is small country in Western Africa and former British colony. It has a high level of poverty, and there many stray animals roaming the streets.
After having vacationed in the Gambia and noticing that there was not a single veterinary clinic for small animals and pets, Dr. Michael Meyer decided to take a risk and loaded up his van with used equipment and drove to the Gambia where he and local veterinarian Dr. Bakary Touray co-founded their clinic in 2009.
Parallel to providing services to the local population, the clinic offers free spaying and neutering of stray dogs and cats in an effort to reduce their numbers. Hurt, sickly and mistreated animals receive additional care and are often placed into foster homes until they are well. Many efforts are made to stop the spread of disease.
To raise awareness for the clinic’s efforts, Dr. Michael Meyer, known affectionately as “Micha” records videos of his patients, the procedures and of life in the Gambia. These videos can be viewed on the Youtube channels, Vetclinicgambia and Cordylobia Anthropophaga. The most popular videos involve the removal of ticks and Cordylobia Anthropophaga, referred to more commonly as mango worms.
Micha’s two assistants who both go by the name of “Fatou” are also popular with the audience.
The clinic has many supporters, both locally and abroad. One avid supporter is Marta Gil-Vaz, an artist who also has a connection with Africa; she was born in Angola, then moved with her family to Zimbabwe, before settling in England.
Inspired by her dying father who taught her to value, appreciate and respect animals, she started painting in her late 30s, and today she gladly paints animal portraits as a thank you for larger donations made to the clinic.
The author of this article donated some money to the clinic via Paypal and received a wonderful portrait of her cat in return. This, however, must be coordinated with Marta. She can be contacted at martavaz.42@gmail.com.
Question for students (and subscribers): What is your favorite vet clinic? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
Some interesting reads include:
Briggs, Philip. The Gambia (Bradt Travel Guides). Bradt Travel Guides, 2014.
Dunlop, Robert H and David J. Williams AA BA MA. Veterinary Medicine: An Illustrated History. Mosby, 1996.
Flood, Anne. Realistic Pet Portraits in Colored Pencil. Anne Flood, 2004.
Wright, Donald R. The World and a Very Small Place in Africa: A History of Globalization in Niumi, the Gambia (Sources and Studies in World History). Routledge, 2010.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="3373 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=3373">6 Comments
Could totally argue about which videos are “favorites” (as any of the videos of surgery do well)… but regardless, Micha is a really awesome guy and this clinic sorely could use help from those with the money to do so!
Dear Ktanaqui, I fully concur; all the videos are fascinating, but in my case, the Mango worms are what attracted me to his channel in the first place. After I began watching regularly, I also became immersed in the plights of the of the stray animals and the horrors of the abused, mistreated and neglected pets. I even became interested in the stories of his staff and in life in the Gambia in general. Micha’s channel not only brings attention to the animals but also to the country. If it were not for him, I would not even know where the Gambia was.
Micha is really doing a good thing for this country. He is doing a good job bringing something new to the country as well. it’s very nice to see that someone is taking action to help out the animals.
The Mango worms are absolutely disgusting, that was a terrible video clip to watch. But Dr.Micha is doing a great thing. -AD
It is awesome to see when others dedicate themselves to helping improve life around them, including that of animals. Often times they are neglected and ill treated without ability to help themselves…
I came across this video https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2a5b606a48e56d67c251d8593937d1b3cefcd53da77c47e62d47312ba4977519.jpg on my Facebook with this dog that had mango worms. I watched it and it was gross but this vet clinic with Dr Micha and the assistants are awesome. This clinic is absolutely amazing. It’s doing so much for the animals there. I’m sure it would always need contributions. I think it would be so rewarding to volunteer in that clinic. I hope this clinic will be there for a long time to help the animals in that country. There are so many there that do need medical attention. Dr Micha was a God sent. I enjoy the videos. The clinic, everything fascinates me.