RAZVOJ VETERINARSKOG ŠKOLSTVA U SVIJETU S POSEBNIM OSVRTOM NA PRILIKE U HRVATSKOJ

Abstract

Veterinary science has an exceptionally rich tradition, although its scientific begin- nings date from as late as the second half of the 18th century, when the first schools of veterinary medicine were established. The first school of veterinary medicine was established in 1762 in Lyon, France, in the most developed European country with the new bourgeois society. Following this example schools of veterinary medicine were being established in other European countries as well. At that time human medicine had already been well developed, and therefore the medical aspect always prevailed in the study of veterinary medicine. Due to the existence of numerous zoonoses it was common that medical authorities managed both medical and veterinary service. Attempts to establish the first school of veterinary medicine in Croatia started in Zadar in 1806 with the arrival of the French in Dalmatia, who founded a number of lower and higher education schools. However, not until 1891 was veterinary medicine separated from human medicine. This process took no less than a century, that is, until the first High School of Veterinary Medicine was established on 31 August 1919. At first the school was under the influence of its Viennese counterpart, but Russian veterinary sci- ence took over after WW2. Since the Croatian independence, the most important year was 2001, when Croatia signed the Declaration of Bologna, pledging thus to carry out high-education reform after the EU countries.