When Did People Begin Treating Animals?

The simple answer is: when humans first domesticated animals. Animal care developed alongside the treatment of humans.

Archaeological evidence suggests that veterinary procedures may have been performed as early as 5,000 years ago. Veterinary medicine as a scientific discipline is much younger, however. But who treated animals before veterinary science even existed? How did animal diseases affect entire herds, and what kinds of treatments were used centuries ago?

What do diseases such as mad cow disease, avian influenza, or swine fever actually look like? These illnesses have existed for centuries, and even today they are often controlled using methods not so different from those used in the Middle Ages.

The “Veterinary Room” at the Estonian Agricultural Museum takes you on a journey through the history of animal medicine — from the earliest use of natural remedies to the birth of modern scientific veterinary care.

📜 Did you know that more than 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians were already documenting animal diseases and treatments?

🌿 Which medicinal plants were used to treat animals before the invention of antibiotics?

🐄 Why were animal epidemics feared more than storms or bad weather?

Here you will learn how animal treatment evolved together with human knowledge, and how Estonian veterinary medicine began more than 200 years ago at the University of Tartu.

Step into the Veterinary Room and enter a time when animals were treated with spells, herbs, and science. Come and discover how animal health has always shaped our lives — and still does today.