From the early 1980s to 2000, there was a very efficient Farm Veterinary Service in Malta. I know, because, from 1985 to 1994, I was one of those vets.

KPH, the Milk Producers’ Co-op, funded the vets’ salaries. That worked well at the time and, as we shall see, is the only kind of Farm Vet Service (FVS) that can possibly work here.

I left Malta in 1994 because, six months previously, the vet who had been working with me left to take up another position, leaving me as the sole service provider. Obviously, that doubled my workload and made life difficult. With farmers paying no visit fees, we vets were called out for every little thing, sometimes just to deliver medicines.

KPH advertised for a replacement for my departed colleague. They interviewed and agreed terms with a Hungarian vet, who, delighted with his chance to get away from the grimness of recently post-communist Hungary, had returned home and begun his preparations for his family’s departure to sunny Malta.

My Hungarian colleague stuck it out for six years but decided, in 2000, not to return from his annual home leave. He’d had enough.

Now, suddenly faced with having no vet, the committee of KPH decided to dispense altogether with the subsidised FVS and rely on the private sector when members needed a vet. In the meantime, members would dabble in DIY diagnostics and treatments, in open breach of both the Veterinary Surgeons Act and the Animal Welfare Act.

It was this incredibly short-sighted decision that led directly to the present disgraceful situation.

Here are the reasons why there can never be a dedicated private FVS on Malta.

The national herd is too small. In my practice in Ireland, I tended to cover three times the number of farm animals as Malta’s total.

Such a FVS would require at least two vets plus ancillary staff.

And setting up a properly equipped FVS needs significant investment, which would never be recouped.

The reasons why farmers cannot expect private vets to fill in on emergencies are, and always were, equally obvious.

Animal species differ greatly and vets who work exclusively with one group (say, pets/companion animals) will have very little expertise in issues affecting other groups (like farm livestock).

Stop sitting on the fence. And don’t try to put the blame on us vets.- Maurice O’Scanaill

Everyone needs to look after their business interests and any vet who frequently abandons a waiting room of pet-owning clients to rush off to a farm emergency will soon lose those clients to rival, more attentive practices.

Regardless of our innate desire to help animals in distress, vets who are set up for pet practice will have neither the drugs, the specialised equipment nor the expertise required to provide even a nominal FVS.

On retiring to Malta (2012), I was appalled to discover the lack of a FVS, so I joined the committee of the Malta Veterinary Association (MVA) to address this.

We’ve held several meetings with KPH and government officials and prepared detailed reports but, for some reason, never managed to generate an interested response. We even sourced EU funding but that, too, failed to spark interest.

I see that Alison Bezzina, Animal Welfare Commissioner, suggested: “One recommendation... is to introduce paramedics for animals.” When I worked in Oman (1995-2002), I helped design a course to give basic first-aid training to people from isolated desert oases, wadis and remote coastal communities who had zero access to professional veterinary help.

The idea was to alleviate the suffering of their livestock and reduce needless economic loss.

If First World Malta is happy to associate itself with such primitive Third World standards, then go ahead but it makes far more sense to subsidise a proper FVS, fully equipped and staffed. On an island with a population of 500,000, many essential services have to be subsidised.

It just remains for the authorities to decide whether or not a proper FVS is essential. If it is, then pay for it.

But if an effective FVS is viewed as a mere non-essential luxury, then admit it and continue to turn a blind eye to the constant breaches of the Veterinary Surgeons Act and, more importantly (because of the inevitable suffering entailed), the Animal Welfare Act.

But stop sitting on the fence.

And don’t try to put the blame on us vets.

Dr Maurice O’Scanaill is on the committee of the Malta Veterinary Association.