If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind, whom should we serve?
John Adams

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Cathy Darrell is taking donations of gently used adult and children clothing to City Team in Chester. Drop off clothing at Cathy’s house at 315 North Chester Road

Although some of us may think of veterinarians only when needing help with our pets, our speaker, Dr. Andrew Hoffman, pointed out the connection between animal and human health. Dr. Hoffman is Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He explained that most infectious diseases that affect humans originate in animals. In yet one more bad result of climate change, wild animals are being forced to migrate to new areas because their environment is changing. This will spread disease to new animal and human populations. Many of the antibiotics that humans take to combat diseases that originate in animals are routinely given to farm animals to prevent the spread of disease in crowded barns. This wide spread use of antibiotics promotes resistance in the germs that are eventually transmitted to humans.
Then there is the matter of food. Most of us eat meat at least some of the time. Many of us eat less meat than our parents did. Dr. Hoffman believes that this is caused at least somewhat by food guidelines that were published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1980’s. This was the famous food pyramid. The pyramid promoted carbohydrates and cautioned against fat, dairy, and meat. At the same time, the U.S. government subsidized growing cheap corn. These policies were instrumental in the move away from meat and diary protein and fat towards carbohydrates and processed foods. He believes this was a mistake resulting in increased obesity. He referred us to four books that discussed this topic:

• Fast Carbs, Slow Carbs, David Kessler
• The Obesity Code, Jason Fung
• The Big Fat Surprise, Nina Teicholz
• Ultra Processed People, Chris van Tulleken

Furthermore, Dr. Hoffman said many of the challenges facing veterinary medicine are the same as the challenges facing human medicine: food security, climate change, diet, accessibility & equality, sustainability, zoonotic diseases, antibiotic resistance, animal welfare, workforce shortage and misinformation.
As described by Dr. Hoffman, the Penn veterinary medicine school is an extensive operation. While teaching over 500 veterinary students, the staff also treat 40,000 small and large animals at its two facilities and conducts field visits for 20,000 more.
One personal connection. Dr. Hoffman said veterinarians need to establish a relationship with both the animal and its human owner. My childhood dog, like most, liked to ride in cars until my parents took him to get a shot at a vet. After that, my dog was always afraid to get into our car. Perhaps a vet like Dr. Hoffman would have been able to prevent my dog’s car phobia.