New Delhi, May 2 -- There are professions the world celebrates loudly, and there are professions the world depends on silently. Veterinary medicine belongs to the second kind. It rarely appears on the front page, rarely becomes a subject of public pride, and rarely receives the respect it quietly earns every day. Yet without veterinarians, the very foundations of society i.e. safe food, healthy communities, resilient farming, and protection from deadly outbreaks would begin to shake. World Veterinary Day on April 25 should have been a day of honest reflection, because the veterinary profession is no longer limited to the treatment of animals.

Today, veterinarians stand at the heart of global survival. They are the guardians of food syste...