A strong veterinary profession is an essential condition for a healthy population, a productive agricultural sector and a sustainable environment, and amounts to an investment in the country’s well-being and future, Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya has said.
She was speaking as chief guest at the 78th Annual General Meeting and conference of the Sri Lanka Veterinary Association (SLVA), held in Colombo on Friday, 30 October, Hiru News reported on Sunday afternoon.
What she said
Veterinary science is not confined to animal health, the Prime Minister said, but is an essential component of national development — protecting public health, preventing diseases transmitted from animals to humans, securing the food supply, supporting farmers and conserving wildlife. The work veterinarians do to safeguard animal health, she said, bears directly on public health, livelihoods and environmental sustainability.
Turning to agriculture, she said veterinary services are essential to raising livestock productivity, preventing the spread of disease and strengthening the resilience of farming communities.
She also pressed the welfare case, emphasising the need to strengthen the legal framework against animal cruelty, to promote responsible animal ownership, and to intervene for animals that are injured or in distress.
Who attended
Those present included Labour Minister and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Anil Jayantha Fernando, SLVA president Dr Sugath Premachandra, the chairman of the National Livestock Development Board, and Vimlendra Sharan, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization representative for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The sessions also marked the profession’s contribution to public health, food security, animal welfare and sustainable development.
Context and what is not reported
The call to strengthen animal-cruelty law lands while the Animal Welfare Bill remains unfinished business, and in a month when enforcement against wildlife crime has been under scrutiny following the killing of the tusker Kavantissa — a case in which a veterinary surgeon resigned.
The filing records no new funding, legislation or timetable. It does not say whether the Prime Minister committed the government to a specific animal-welfare statute, nor does it report the veterinary profession’s own representations on staffing or pay. Neither the theme of the sessions nor any resolution adopted is given.
