Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Dr Dave Midgley has taken over the reins as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ruminant Veterinary Association of South Africa (RuVASA) from Dr Faffa Malan.
Dr Midgley takes on the responsibility of representing an exceptional group of people, namely private veterinarians who are committed to working for long hours – like many farmers – come rain or sunshine, wherever their expertise is needed.
Considerable expertise
After he qualified as a veterinarian at Onderstepoort in 1980, Dr Midgley proceeded to work tirelessly in the large animal livestock sector. He has worked for the government, spent 20 years in private practice as a rural vet, worked in the livestock industry as a private veterinary consultant, and has spent the last five years in food safety and animal welfare.
When asked about his love for veterinary science, he refers to it as his calling. “I do not practice veterinary science, I live it,” he says. “I believe it is now time for me to plough back the knowledge and experience I have gained into a profession which has been so good to me – I’m looking forward to helping make a positive difference and to take future challenges head-on.”
RuVASA main objectives
RuVASA provides leadership and guidance for veterinary issues, with particular emphasis on ruminant populations. The organisation is also a special interest group of SAVA (South African Veterinary Association), and its main objectives are as follows:
- To provide quality, continuous professional development (CPD) to the RuVASA members, industry partners, and customers.
- To foster collaboration between ruminant veterinarians and relevant producer organisations.
Taking part in a team effort
Dr Midgley is intent on helping RuVASA achieve the following goals:
- To operate independently whilst working within the framework of the South African Veterinary Association in the interests of veterinarians involved with ruminants.
- To promote cost-effective health and production amongst ruminants in South Africa.
- To promote the image of the veterinarian to the farmer and producer of ruminants as a professional employed in all aspects of health and production in the industry.
- To liaise with all parties concerned with the production of ruminants and to promote closer cooperation between these parties.
- To act as the unified voice for the ruminant veterinarian.
- To promote continuing education and research in the field of ruminant health and production.
- To liaise and work with similar groups internationally.
Q&A session
To learn more about Dr Midgley’s vision for RuVASA, Plaas Media’s Carin Venter asked him a few questions:
Q: What is your vision as the new CEO of RuVASA, in terms of engaging with organised agriculture and the National Department of Agriculture (NDA) to collaborate on animal health, particularly in the light of the ongoing foot-and-mouth FMD outbreaks?
A: “As a representative of RuVASA, my vision and mission are to promulgate private veterinarians as valued, appreciated, and important role-players and leaders in the communities where they function or operate – this is where the biggest shortages of veterinarians are being experienced. Private vets work on ground level and are the first line of defence in most disease-outbreak situations and, working with farm animals in rural areas, they understand the socio-economic impact which diseases like FMD can have from ‘conception to consumption’.
“Although all cloven-hooved animals, including wildlife species and pigs, can get FMD, we are currently finding that mainly cattle are being affected by this disease. I believe that no disease-control strategy, such as we are experiencing presently, will succeed if private veterinarians are not involved at the forefront of control programmes and disease management. There is an excellent control programme in which government, the National Department of Agriculture (NDA), state veterinarians, and private veterinarians are already working in together as a team.
“It is my vision to try and get organised agriculture and NDA to work closely together with private veterinarians in the fight against FMD. Management and NDA strategies can vary from area to area, and even from farm to farm. Private veterinarians who stay and work on ground level should be part of a ground team preventing the spread, managing outbreaks, as well as providing the aftercare that is needed to prevent further occurrences of the disease in their working area.”
Q: Considering your vast experience and expertise in small stock health and welfare, how do you suggest we balance the economic benefits with the welfare concerns?
A: “I am an ardent supporter of animal welfare, not an animal activist. I regard the laws and Acts in place for animal welfare as the minimum standards that should be maintained. Anyone who does not comply with these, can be prosecuted. Taking the welfare aspects of production animals and companion animals into consideration, animal welfare is the moral obligation of every person on this planet, and should be complied with.
Private veterinarians care about people, animals, and the environment, and behind every animal is an owner. I have witnessed animal cruelty in many forms over my career of more than 45 years and have found that most production animal owners know that they must care for their animals. All animals that die become a total loss to the production system or production environment. Happy animals always produce and reproduce better.” – Carin Venter, Plaas Media
For more information, contact Dr Dave Midgley at dave.midgley@vodamail.co.za.
