THE World Association of Buiatrics Congress was recently held in Cairns by the Australian Cattle Veterinarians (ACV) a special interest group of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA).
Buiatrics is the study of cattle and their diseases and the congress is one of the largest gatherings of cattle veterinarians, researchers and scientists in the world.
Scott Parry, the immediate past president of the Australian Cattle Veterinarians said "It is a huge honour to be chosen as the nation and organisation to host this event. The congress is held on a biennial basis and there is strong competition to host the event. It is pretty much the Olympic Games of the cattle vet and research world."
Nearly 1000 delegates, from over fifty countries converged on the Cairns Convention Centre during the week-long event, to listen to and partake in over 350 lectures and hands on workshops.
"A diverse range of topics were covered this week." Parry continued, "But the themes of animal welfare, food safety, biosecurity and sustainable production into the future underpinned much of the program, highlighting the fact that these issues are of utmost importance to cattle veterinarians and scientists and in fact the broader cattle industries worldwide."
Local and overseas delegates also got the chance to enjoy the many attractions that North Queensland has to offer with a number of field trips and side trips to the Great Barrier Reef and surrounding islands, Atherton Tablelands and Daintree regions. The congress culminated with a spectacular fireworks display and gala dinner held at the Cairns Cruise Liner terminal.
"On virtually every count, the 28th Congress of the World Buiatrics Association was a runaway success," Parry concluded. "The quality of the scientific program was world class, Cairns and far North Queensland was a fantastic location to host the congress and this was reflected in the overwhelmingly positive feedback we had from delegates. ACV and AVA would like to make a special thanks to the staff and management of the Cairns Convention Centre. The venue itself was great and the staff went out of their way to make sure that the event was a success. We couldn't have done it without them."
