Chairperson: Dr Dorothea Mostert
The Pig Veterinary Society is a collection of dynamic veterinarians with an interest in pig production.
A Brief History
In the mid-1980s a group of veterinarians with an interest in pig production got together and decided that a formal association should be established as opposed to the informal and infrequent meetings that had been held.
The Meat Board was still in operation, so many of the functions had been associated with meetings of the Meat Board veterinarians. The initial “committee” consisted of Drs Peter Davies and Tom Spencer.
One of the liveliest and important meetings held was when a name had to be chosen. Other world-wide pig veterinary groups function as Societies, while the SAVA was trying to get “interest groups” established between veterinarians with similar interests. Finally, the name Pig Veterinary Society (PVS), as opposed to Pig Interest Group (PIG), was decided upon.
With Dr Theunis Prinsloo in the chair, the committee became more business minded with set meeting times and a constitution. One of the projects Theunis started was to invite Pig Letter Group to South Africa. The visit the following year of the three world respected veterinarians, nutritionist, their manager and spouses were a great success. PVS was seen by the farmers to be doing something for the Industry within which we serve.
The society structure was learned from the early visit of the Pig Letter Group has been a model for subsequent and on-going visits by distinguished colleagues and interesting people within the world’s pig industry. These include notable pig specialists such as: Al Leman, Gary Dial, Mike Muirhead, Mike Wilson, Frank Aherne, Ross Buddle, John Carr, with many more to come in future years
Members of the group have successfully hosted the 2008 IPVS Congress in Durban. The IPVS is the international association of veterinary pig specialists who hold a prestigious congress of up to 2000 veterinarians every second year in different parts of the world.
Membership:
Membership is in the vicinity of 50 members who are made up of consultants, lecturers, researchers, pharmaceutical company veterinarians and some colleagues who are actively farming pigs. The chairman and executive are elected every second year at the Annual General Meeting. The above-mentioned office-bearers will form the Executive Committee of the Society and will elect the vice chairman, secretary and treasurer.
Full membership is restricted to members of the SAVA, but there is plenty of provision made for non-voting categories and interested colleagues from the profession or the industry are always welcome at meetings or social functions.
Activities:
The society holds meetings twice a year, the OGM in the first half and the AGM in the second half of the year. Both meetings include a CPD component as well as a technical session. The technical sessions are presented by the society members, sharing valuable information pertinent to the local context. OP students with an interest in pigs are encouraged to attend the technical sessions.
It would however not be a PVS meeting without a party! The society encourages fellowship amongst its members and aims to foster strong professional and personal bonds.
An important and fruitful principle that we follow is to maintain a close relationship with the industry we serve: there are frequent formal and ad hoc meetings between the PVS and South African Pork Producers Organisation (SAPPO). This has become vital to maintain a healthy industry in the face of ever-increasing threats of disease such as ASF and FMD
The increasing sophistication of the commercial pig production sector has focused attention on bio-security and quality assurance. PVS and its members are intimately involved in both these aspects with special emphasis on their involvement in both Pork 360 and compartmentalisation of farms
Apart from the formal sector, PVS works in collaboration with SAPPO and the Ministry of Agriculture to provide support to the informal sector.
2019 saw the founding of the African Society for Pig Veterinarians. The meetings will be held in conjunction with PVS AGM every second year. As we are increasingly becoming global citizens, PVS values the importance of strengthened bonds with our colleagues across the African continent.
Or contact Dr Dorothea Mostert on 012 460 9385 or dorothea@csvet.co.za