Giving Veterinarians Police Power

A ban on the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in livestock is set to take effect by the end of 2016. For public-health advocates, the prohibition is potentially a huge victory in the battle against the spread of antibiotic resistance in humans. But for the ban to work, the country’s veterinarians will have to police the front lines of the $187 billion U.S. meat, dairy, and poultry industry.

Dr. Carie Telgen, who wrangles dairy cows for a living as a large-animal vet in upstate New York, says she believes the regulations are long overdue. “Consumers have lost a lot of faith in the food they’re eating,” says Telgen, whose practice is near Greenwich, about 180 miles north of New York City. “It’s good for us to step up and show them we’re doing the right thing.”