NVMA urges Benue Govt. to employ more vet doctors

Dr Andrew Amine, Chairman, Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), Benue Chapter, has appealed to the state government to employ more veterinary doctors.

Amine made the appeal on Friday in Makurdi at the 40th anniversary and N20 million appeal fund for the purchase of an 18-seater bus for the association.

The chairman said that veterinarians under the Benue government were grossly inadequate and that there was a need for more hands.

He decried the shortage of veterinary doctors in the public sector, particularly in the local government service.

According to him, it is important to have veterinary doctors in all 23 local government areas of the state.

Amine urged his colleagues to collaborate with sister agencies to fight against climate change and the protection of the public through prevention as well as control of zonotic diseases.

The chairman enumerated the challenges confronting the association in the state to include a lack of mobility and land to build a permanent secretariat.

Mr Onyekachi Omenuko, who presented a talk on dog breeding opportunities, said that there were 680 breeds of dogs in the world, stating that 90 per cent of them were created by man for various reasons.

Omenuko said that the local breed of dogs was meant purely for hunting.

The guest lecturer also disclosed that it was scientifically proven that people who suffer from depression, if they hug dogs often, their blood pressure would be reduced.

He lamented that 90 per cent of dogs in Nigeria were untrained, and that was why their owners cannot handle them when they go wide.

He advised the association to go into a strong partnership with canine (dog breeders) for their overall good.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Yanmar Ortese, who was represented by the Director of Medical Service, Dr Joshua Agbadu, appreciated NVMA for the services it is rendering to society.