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Showing only stories from the OP-ED category: Opinion or editorial articles expressing the thoughts of individual Association members. -- show all categories
March 2, 2022 — AASV Staff
Overheard at the 2022 AASV Annual Meeting, a gathering of hundreds of swine veterinarians: "Hey, you ever bled a pig?"...
December 23, 2020 — Harry Snelson
T'was the night before auction, when over the net All the members were bidding, even the vet; Two shotguns were propped by the chimney with care, In hopes that a pheasant hunt soon would be there....
October 28, 2020 — Harry Snelson
The following story was shared with me by Sherrie Webb. It recounts a recent exchange between her 4-year-old son, Bennett, and his dad, Patrick, during a brief stop on their way to daycare. In...
October 21, 2020 — Harry Snelson
AASV member, Dr. John Hicks, offered to share the following story. "Today a little old lady had been cleaning out her late husband's "vet supplies." She brought them to the clinic to...
July 22, 2020 — Harry Snelson
I broke a tooth. I realize, in and of itself, that's not funny or worthy of a Doc Tales. But, it led to the following experience which I feel compelled to get off my chest. The broken tooth resulted...
April 8, 2020 — Harry Snelson
With Easter coming up this weekend, I thought I'd pass along some seasonal observations: Where do Easter eggs come from? An eggplant, of course. Who invented Easter egg hunts? Parents compelled to...
February 19, 2020 — Harry Snelson
Hey kids. I've missed you the last couple of weeks but nothing really "Doc Tales worthy" came my way until yesterday. I was driving home from the office in Perry and noticed a squirrel...
January 8, 2020 — Harry Snelson
I snapped this picture (https://photos.app.goo.gl/N7whfEEEeVdomMEu6) during a recent ski trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It reinforces my belief that, when you find yourself in a situation that is...
December 11, 2019 — Harry Snelson
I noticed that 2020 will be the 55th anniversary of The Sound of Music. So, in honor of that classic I offer my version of the iconic song from that movie My Favorite Things. My Favorite Things...
December 4, 2019 — Harry Snelson
As I write this, I'm seated on a flight from Chicago to Ft. Myers, Florida in early December. The thing that struck me as I boarded was the overwhelming preponderance of old people on this flight....
November 20, 2019 —
Okay kids, this week I'm going to teach you about irony. My apartment complex has teamed up with the Salvation Army to provide Christmas gifts for local kids. They set up an Angel Tree in the...
November 13, 2019 —
The origin of Doc Tales was the opportunity to share some humorous or profound statements overheard at various meetings. This week, I'm going to return to those roots. I recently attended the US...
November 6, 2019 —
I recently attended a meeting involving a recap of the national African swine fever exercise held a few weeks ago. USDA was describing the involvement of the diagnosticians at the Plum Island Animal...
October 30, 2019 —
Ok, I missed a couple of weeks so I'm going to make up for it with an exchange between Sue Schulteis in the AASV office and Kent Schwartz at the ISU VDL. This one is just for the geeks in all of us....
October 9, 2019 —
During a recent discussion on depopulation methods, the point was made that, "you just don't come back from 410 volts."...
October 2, 2019 —
October is National Dental Hygiene month. According to the American Dental Association, you should brush and floss your teeth at least twice a day. As my pappy used to say, "It's better to floss...
September 11, 2019 —
I took a little vacation time this week to attend a conference put on by a hobbyist group to which I have belonged for many years. Having never before attended their annual conference, I had no idea...
September 4, 2019 —
As I write this, Hurricane Dorian is bearing down on North Carolina. It occurred to me earlier today as I was shopping for survival supplies that people in NC don't need meteorologists to forecast...
August 21, 2019 —
Long time AASV member Dr. Gregg BeVier has just published a new paperback, Prescriptive Thoughts for an Enriched Life. I just finished reading it last night. It is a short read, but it is very...
July 31, 2019 —
A couple of weeks ago, Doc Tales celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the moon landing by revisiting Neil Armstrong's famous quote, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for...
July 17, 2019 —
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969 from the surface of the moon....
July 3, 2019 —
Ok, this week it's a two-fer. It's a holiday week and the 30th anniversary of arguably the funniest sitcom in television history -- Seinfeld. As a matter of fact, I'm retracting the word...
June 19, 2019 —
As I bumble through (I mean navigate) the challenges of my new position as Executive Director at AASV, I'm comforted by the realization that over the years I've learned so much from my mistakes that...
June 5, 2019 —
Dr. Chris Deegan, veterinarian with Suidae, shares this week's Doc Tales. Following a lengthy "conversation" with one of his clients, the client stepped out of the room. He returned a few...
May 29, 2019 —
In charge of AASVSince 1994.It really fit to a teeAnd was never a bore. The secret of his success,He was oft heard to say,Is to always hire good folks,And stay out of their way. Though he never...
May 22, 2019 —
We recently met with a group of USDA researchers to discuss the importance of swine research and offer some input regarding topics of importance to swine producers and veterinarians. One of the...
May 8, 2019 —
I was recently visiting with a group of our AASV leadership and the topic of how the AASV demographics have changed over the years came up. In an effort to emphasize the impact the increase in female...
April 24, 2019 —
After work on a recent Friday, I happened to bump into one of our colleagues leaving the office. She seemed uncharacteristically harried causing me to ask where she was headed in such a rush. Her...
The complete archive, including older stories, is here
Category abbreviations: AASV=Membership information, announcements, and other information from the American Association of Swine Veterinarians; Abs.=Abstracts from journal articles of general interest to swine veterinarians.; ALERT=Used to create email alerts; An.H.=Animal Health; Conf.=Conference announcements and other continuing education opportunities; FAD="Foreign" Animal Disease and other news most significant to regions outside of North America.; Food=Food Safety; Gov.=Information about legislation, regulations, and rulemaking that may affect the swine industry or swine veterinarians.; Hum.H.=Human health; Ind.=News from the pork industry, including NPPC and Pork Board activities.; International=Information regarding swine health and production internationally.; Jobs=Position announcements, primarily seeking swine veterinarians.; Meet=Provides a short synopsis of meetings of importance to swine veterinarians.; News=Agriculture related news events.; Nutr.=Swine nutrition; OP-ED=Opinion or editorial articles expressing the thoughts of individual Association members.; Pharm.=Pharmaceuticals and biologicals; PRRS=Articles from the AASV PRRS Task Force; Practice=Information associated with practice management or development.; Research=Research topics of interest to swine veterinarians.; Students=Information of interest to AASV student members.; USDA=US Dept. of Agriculture activities of interest to swine veterinarians.; Welfare=Animal welfare issues