Veterinarians and veterinary surgeons are medical professionals who operate exclusively on animals. This is a list of notable veterinarians, both real and fictional.

Real-life veterinarians

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A

  • Wayne Allard (born 1943) – U.S. Senator (1997–2009)
  • Maurice Allen (born 1937) – veterinary pathologist

B

  • Chris Back (born 1950) – Australian Senator (2009–2017)
  • Bernhard Lauritz Frederik Bang (1848–1932) – Danish veterinarian who discovered Brucella abortus
  • Denis Barberet (1714–1770) – French bibliographer and author
  • Harold William Bennetts (1898–1970) – Australian known for research on livestock and the toxic effects of native Australian plants
  • Natanael Berg (1879–1957) – Swedish composer
  • Reidar Birkeland (born 1928) – professor at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science
  • Baxter Black (1945–2022) – U.S. radio commentator
  • Marie-Claude Bomsel (born 1946) – wildlife expert
  • Alfred Boquet (1879–1947) – French veterinarian, known for his work at the Pasteur Institute in Paris
  • Claude Bourgelat (1712–1779) – founder of 18th-century French veterinary school
  • Anton Johnson Brandt (1893–1951) – professor of pathological anatomy at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science
  • Chris Brown (born 1978) – known for the Australian television series Bondi Vet

C

  • Nelson R. Çabej (born 1939) – Albania evolutionary biologist and author
  • Charles J Coottes Campbell (1894–2001) British/Commonwealth equine veterinarian
  • Louis J. Camuti (1893–1981) – first American cat veterinarian
  • Philibert Chabert (1737–1814) – French agronomist who wrote on early treatise on anthrax control
  • Craig Challen (born 1965/1966) – Australian diver and caver
  • John A. Charlton (1907–1977) – Canadian politician
  • Auguste Chauveau (1827–1917) – French veterinarian, in whose honor the bacterium Clostridium chauvoei is named
  • Matthew Clarke (born 1973) – former professional Australian rules footballer
  • Ken Coghill (born 1944) – former Australian politician
  • Robert Cook – British equine veterinarian
  • Robin Coombs (1921–2006) – British immunologist, co-discoverer of the Coombs test
  • Harry Cooper (born 1943) – Australian television personality
  • Miguel Cordero del Campillo (1925–2020) – Spanish parasitologist

D

  • Morné de la Rey (born 1970) – South African veterinarian who was the first person in Africa to clone an animal, as well as first person to do successful IVF in Cape Buffalo in the world.
  • Darlene Dixon – American veterinarian and toxicologic pathologist
  • Sydney Dodd (1874–1926) – British veterinary surgeon who was the first lecturer in veterinary bacteriology at the University of Sydney
  • Peter C. Doherty (born 1940) – Australian veterinary surgeon and researcher joint recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
  • Mick Doyle (1941–2004) – Irish rugby player
  • Petrus Johann du Toit (1888–1967) – South African veterinarian
  • John Boyd Dunlop (1840–1921) – Scottish inventor of the tyre

E

  • Henrik Edland (1905–1984) – professor of anatomy at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science
  • John Ensign (born 1958) – U.S. Senator (2001–2011)

F

  • Martin J. Fettman (born 1956) – U.S. astronaut and veterinary pathologist
  • Kevin Fitzgerald (born 1951) – American television documentary veterinarian
  • Bruce Fogle (born 1944) – Canadian veterinarian
  • Birger Furugård (1887–1961) – Swedish politician

G

  • Doug Galt (born 1937/1938) – former Canadian politician
  • Pierre-Victor Galtier (1846–1908) – French veterinarian, notable for his research into rabies.
  • Hugh Gordon (1909–2002) – Australian parasitologist
  • John Russell Greig (1889–1963) – Scottish veterinarian, notable for his research into milk fever
  • Camille Guérin (1872–1961) – developed a vaccine for tuberculosis

H

  • James Hallen (1829–1901) – British veterinarian who served as General Superintendent of Horse Breeding in India
  • Greg J. Harrison – avian veterinarian
  • Susanne Hart (1927–2010) – South African environmentalist
  • Antonie Marinus Harthoorn (1923–2012) – conservationist who worked in Africa
  • Herbert Haupt (born 1947) – Austrian politician
  • James Herriot (1916–1995) – pen name of James Alfred Wight, author of books about animals
  • Vanessa M. Hirsch – Canadian-American veterinary pathologist and virologist
  • Thomas William Hogarth (1901–1999) – Scottish-Australian veterinarian, writer on dogs
  • John Holt (1931–2013) – Australian veterinarian and sports shooter
  • William Hunting (1846–1913) – founder of The Veterinary Record

J

  • Dawda Jawara (1924–2019) – first president of Gambia
  • Joan O. Joshua (1912–1993)

K

  • Mark D Kittleson (born 1950) – American veterinary cardiologist, researcher, and educator

L

  • Amy K. LeBlanc – U.S. veterinary oncologist
  • Richard M. Linnehan (born 1957) – U.S. astronaut
  • Buster Lloyd-Jones (1914–1980) – British veterinary surgeon

M

  • Svend Lomholt (1888–1949) – Danish veterinarian
  • Zoltán Magyar (born 1953) – Hungarian gymnast; gold medalist in men's pommel horse at the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics
  • Miguel Ángel J. Márquez Ruiz (born 1942) – Mexican veterinarian
  • Tracey McNamara – veterinary pathologist at the Bronx Zoo who played a pivotal role in identifying the first outbreak of West Nile Virus in the United States
  • Keith Meldrum (born 1937) – Chief Veterinary Officer of the United Kingdom (1988–1997)
  • Veranus Alva Moore (1859–1931) – Dean of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine (1908–1929)
  • Suzanne Morrow (1930–2006) – Canadian figure skater who took the Official's Oath at the 1988 Winter Olympics

N

  • Denis Napthine (born 1952) – Australian politician
  • Rich Nye (born 1944) – American professional baseball pitcher turned exotic animal/avian veterinarian

O

  • Peter Ostrum (born 1957) – child actor who was Charlie Bucket in the 1971 motion picture Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

P

  • Frederick Douglass Patterson (1901–1988) – recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1987, the highest civilian honor in the U.S.
  • Sonny Perdue (born 1946) – U.S. politician, former Governor of Georgia
  • Brian Perry (born 1946) – epidemiologist
  • Walter Plowright (1923–2010) – English veterinary scientist who worked to eradicate rinderpest

R

  • Nicky Rackard (1922–1976) – Irish hurler
  • Carl Gottlob Rafn (1769–1808) – Danish multi-disciplinary scientist
  • Robert L. Rooks – American veterinarian
  • John Gunion Rutherford (1857–1923) – Canadian politician
  • Stuart Reid (veterinarian) (born 1974) – President and Principal of the Royal Veterinary College

S

  • Suzanne Saueressig (1924–2013) – first practicing female veterinarian in Missouri
  • Elmo Shropshire (born 1936) – best known as the singer of the novelty Christmas song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"
  • Erzsébet Simonyi (1915–1993) – first woman to earn a veterinary degree in Hungary and founder of the Veterinary Vaccine Control Institute.
  • Brian Sinclair (1915–1988) – best known for his association with James Alfred Wight who fictionalized him as Tristan Farnon
  • Donald Sinclair (1911–1995) – best known as partner to James Alfred Wight who fictionalized him as Sigfried Farnon
  • Danielle Spencer (born 1965) – actor
  • Harry Spira – Australian pioneer in dog breeding technologies
  • Leonid Stadnyk (1970–2014) – Ukrainian veterinarian renowned for his height
  • Harry Steele-Bodger (1896–1952) – British veterinarian
  • Michael G. Strain (born 1959) – American veterinarian who is the incumbent Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner

T

  • Arnold Theiler (1867–1936) – described the horse disease which became known as Theiler's disease
  • James Thomson (born 1958) – American developmental biologist who derived the first human embryonic stem cell line in 1998
  • Simon Fraser Tolmie (1867–1937) – Canadian politician
  • Debbye Turner (born 1965) – Miss America 1990, resident veterinarian for CBS' The Early Show

V

  • Erik Viborg (1759–1822) – Danish veterinarian and botanist

W

  • Hugh Wirth (1939–2018) – Australian animal welfare advocate with RSPCA Australia, radio broadcaster

Y

  • Sophia Yin (1966–2014) – American animal behaviorist and pioneer of positive reinforcement training for pets.
  • William Youatt (1776–1847) – English veterinary surgeon and animal welfare writer

Z

  • Robert Zammit – Australian television veterinarian

Fictional veterinarians

  • From the British soap opera Emmerdale:
  • Rhona Goskirk
  • Max King
  • Paddy Kirk
  • Hari Prasad
  • Zoe Tate
  • From the Australian soap opera Neighbours:
  • Steve Parker
  • Gemma Ramsay
  • From the children's books series The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Doctor Dolittle
  • From the US television series The Walking Dead: Hershel Greene
  • From the South Korean drama series Hey Ghost, Let's Fight: Joo Hye-sung
  • From the South Korean drama series The King's Doctor: Baek Kwang-hyun
  • From the Japanese drama series Is There a Vet in the House?: Kentarō Shiba
  • From the Japanese manga Kisei Jūi Suzune: Suzune Arizono
  • From the Japanese manga Wild Life: Tesshō Iwashiro

References