Catalogue description Records of Animal Health and Veterinary Services

Animal Health and Veterinary Divisions

Following the cattle plague of 1865, a Cattle Plague Department was established in 1866 in the Privy Council Office, including the former Veterinary Department as a statistical office. Shortly afterwards, the enlarged department reverted to its old name of Veterinary Department and it continued to administer the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts until in 1883 it became the Agricultural Department of the Privy Council Office and took over from the Board of Trade the duty of issuing annual agricultural statistics, though their collection remained the responsibility of the Board of Inland Revenue, the Board of Customs and other authorities.

The Board of Agriculture inherited from the Agriculture Department of the Privy Council Office responsibility for the administration of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts. At first the work was discharged among other duties within 'A' Division, but in 1894 a separate Animals Division was established and in 1896 the veterinary staff was constituted separately as a Veterinary Department. From 1920 to 1927 both division and department were absorbed into the Intelligence Division but in 1927 a Diseases of Animals Division was created, including veterinary staff and other animals work passed to a Livestock Division. In 1938 the Diseases of Animals Division was named the Animal Health Division and took over related functions of the Livestock Division. In 1957 a Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Lord Balfour to examine the export trade in live cattle and consider ways of avoiding suffering during transit, and the alternative of slaughter before export. The committee's report was published as Cmnd 154.

The Animal Health Division divided into two (1965), three (1968) and finally four (1972) divisions, dealing with first, notifiable animal diseases and animal health aspects of the import and export of animals and animal products (a function shared with the various livestock divisions, which had responsibility for ensuring the quality of the UK's breeding stock); second, animal welfare, the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 and pig and poultry health schemes; third, eradication of brucellosis and tuberculosis, the control of veterinary medicines under the Medicines Act 1968 and livestock breeding; and fourth, meat hygiene and relations with the EEC and other international organisations. In 1968 the veterinary service under its chief veterinary officer was detached. The Ministry's responsibilities for animal health are largely defined in the Diseases of Animals Act 1950.

An extensive regional organisation provides local veterinary inspectorates, especially at sea and air ports and there is a Central Veterinary Laboratory at Weybridge, Surrey, and a smaller unit at Lasswade in Scotland. These laboratories carry out research into the causes, pathology and control of diseases of farm livestock, and diagnose animal diseases. They also act as laboratories for international biological standards. The Director of the laboratories was also responsible for the work of the veterinary investigation officers.

Responsibility for policy on and licensing of slaughterhouses and abattoirs passed to Animal Health Division II in 1964 from the Food Standards, Hygiene and Slaughterhouse Policy Division where it remained until 1968, when it passed to the Veterinary Service.

In 1982, Animal Health Division IV was renamed the Meat Hygiene Division, though it retained responsibility for international aspects of animal health matters. The remainder of the Animal Health Group was re-organised in 1987: Division III was renamed Animal Medicines Division, and it undertook a review of licensing arrangements for veterinary medicines, and had control of residues of medicines and medicated foodstuffs; Division II was split, the welfare functions (including the Secretariat of the Farm Animal Welfare Council) forming a new Animal Welfare Division, and the remainder (control of the veterinary profession, and the pig and poultry health schemes) being united with Division I to form a new single Animal Health Division. In 1989, following the completion of the review of medicine licensing by Peter Cunliffe, a new Animal Welfare and Protection Division was created encompassing the Animal Welfare and Animal Medicine Divisions. The Animal Medicines Division moved to a new site adjacent to the Medicines Unit of the Central Veterinary Laboratory, and these two bodies merged with Biological Products and Standards Department of the Central Veterinary Laboratory to form the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

There was a further restructuring of the organisation of the animal health divisions in 1992. The Meat Hygiene Division continued, but the other two divisions were completely changed. An Animal Health (Disease Control) Division was formed to deal with all notifiable animal diseases (except salmonella and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), and an Animal Health (International Trade) Division dealt with the import and export of live animals and genetic material, including controls on artificial insemination and embryo transfer. An Animal Health and Welfare-Veterinary Section was established to deal with animal health schemes and particularly BSE, tuberculosis and brucellosis, the importation of domestic animals and animal welfare generally. There was also an Animal Welfare Division dealing with animal health on farms, in markets and in transit, which also provided the secretariat for the Farm Animal Welfare Council. An Animal Health (Zoonoses) Division dealt with the control of salmonella in poultry. Finally, an Animal Health Resource Management Division was formed to provide general administrative support to the other animal health divisions. The Meat Hygiene Division was also charged with establishing the Meat Hygiene Service in 1995 as an executive agency of the Ministry.

With reorganisation in 1987, prevention, control and eradication of notifiable and other diseases of animals came under the remit of Animal Health Division. In 1992 after further restructuring Animal Health (Disease Control) Division was formed to deal with all notifiable diseases (except salmonella and BSE). In 2001 together with BSE, Sheep TSE and the SEAC Secretariat, Animal Disease Control (ADC) became one of the four divisions within TSE and Zoonoses. In 2005 this became TB Division.