List of veterinarians

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

A

• Wayne Allard (born 1943) – U.S. Senator (1997–2009)^[1]
• Maurice Allen (born 1937) – veterinary pathologist^[2]

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^[3]
• 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^[4]
• 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)^[5]

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^[6]
• 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^[7]
• 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^[8]
• 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^[9][10]

J

• Dawda Jawara (1924–2019) – first president of Gambia
• Joan O. Joshua (1912–1993)^[11]

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)^[12]
• 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^[13]

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^[14]
• Robert L. Rooks – American veterinarian
• John Gunion Rutherford (1857–1923) – Canadian politician^[15]

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^[16]
• 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^[17]
• Debbye Turner (born 1965) – Miss America 1990, resident veterinarian for CBS' The Early Show^[18]

V

• Erik Viborg (1759–1822) – Danish veterinarian and botanist^[19]

W

• Hugh Wirth (1939–2018) – Australian animal welfare advocate with RSPCA Australia, radio broadcaster^[20]

Y

• Sophia Yin (1966–2014) – American animal behaviorist and pioneer of positive reinforcement training for pets.^[21]
• 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