Medicinal Products for Administration to Animals

Abstract

The health and welfare of animals is very important to human beings for two chief reasons. Firstly, many animals are vectors in the transmission of human disease, secondly we consume the produce and meat of other species and therefore we need to ensure that it is wholesome. In the UK a large proportion of the population keep at least one pet and many people have more. These must be kept free from disease for social as well as for psychological reasons. Animals therefore constitute a very sizeable market when the number of pets, farm animals, animals in zoos and safari parks are totalled together and this has encouraged the growth of the veterinary product industry. The advent of ‘factory farming’ has also stimulated the growth of the industry, and the multiplication of distribution outlets.