Vintage Veterinary Exhibit One Step Closer to Becoming Reality

Calgary, AB – This morning, VCA Canada presented the Vintage Veterinary Exhibit Association with a large donation in support of a Vintage Veterinary Exhibit at Heritage Park Historical Village.

The Vintage Veterinary Exhibit Association is a volunteer group of individuals who joined together to help share the story of veterinarians in the 1900-1915s.

A Vintage Veterinary Exhibit planned for Calgary's Heritage Park Historical Village will depict the significant role played by veterinarians in settling the west. The exhibit will include a working Veterinary office in the Park’s 1905 Livery Stable, complete with a collection of artifacts that represent the tools of the trade. The exhibit will also include live enactments of a practicing veterinarian working from a horse-drawn carriage, travelling throughout the Historical Village.

“All veterinarians in Western Canada should be proud of our early professions’ members, who set the stage for what working veterinarians enjoy today,” says Dr. Ted Clark, President of the Vintage Veterinary Association Exhibit. “The huge role they had in ranching, the NWMP, disease control, WWI and helping new settlers in general practice is exemplary. I am proud of the excellent committee of enthusiastic and committed veterinarians and others that we have gathered together to develop this exhibit. I thank my young granddaughter Emma for initiating the idea.”

A fundraising campaign is currently underway to raise enough money for the development of this exhibit, and today’s donation from VCA Canada makes this vision that much closer to reality.

"I am privileged to work in a veterinary hospital that has an MRI, CT scanner and multiple specialists, but if the generation of veterinarians that we are celebrating with the Vintage Veterinary Exhibit had not started us on the right path this never would have happened, says Daniel Joffe, National Medical Director--General Practices, VCA Canada. “The veterinarians of the early 20th century created a model for regulated veterinary practice that has allowed our profession to continuously move forward and advance to where we are today."

“Heritage Park’s mission is connecting people to the settlement of Western Canada and preserving our culture and heritage, and we are excited to partner with the Vintage Veterinary Exhibit Association to weave this important narrative into our historical presentation,” says Susan Reckseidler, Director, Interpretation.  “We have long benefitted from community partnerships like this to develop authentic and immersive experiences for the hundreds of thousands of guests who visit us each year.”

For more information, please visit  https://www.heritagepark.ca/donate/vintage-veterinary-exhibit.html