(The following is the English translation of an article from the Journal of the Iranian Veterinary Society, Issue 10, Summer 2003.)
For months, it had been announced through media, professional societies, educational centers, organizations, government offices, and related private sectors that the first National Small Animal Veterinary Congress would be held.
Through the persistent efforts of its founders and organizers, this unprecedented congress came to fruition. As scheduled, it was held on September 20, 2003, at the Razi Conference Center of Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran. The opening ceremony commenced with a significant attendance of university professors, specialized veterinarians, professionals in the companion animal field, military veterinarians, the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the President of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA), Dr. Gabriel L. Varga (Professor at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Košice, Slovak Republic, Eastern Europe), the head of the National Veterinary Organization of Iran, the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Tehran, the President of the I.R. Iran Veterinary Council, the president and board members of the Iranian Veterinary Society, and other groups.
The session began at 9:30 AM. After the national anthem and a recitation from the Holy Quran, Dr. Javid Al-Davood, the head of the congress organizing committee, delivered brief welcoming remarks to the attendees and thanked the ladies and gentlemen for their presence.
Next, Dr. Kamran Malekpour, a young and active colleague from the society and the executive secretary of the congress, took the stage. After a welcoming address and expressing his gratitude that the attendees had accepted the organizers’ invitation and were present, he said:
“Now, after seven decades of modern veterinary medicine in Iran, we are holding the first National Companion Animal Veterinary Congress. The idea for organizing a companion animal congress was first proposed concurrently with the establishment of the Animal Protection Society in 1997, but the initial bells rang in the autumn of 2002. After consultation with specialists from veterinary faculties across the country and experts, the executive and scientific committees gradually took shape. By creating a ‘website’ for the congress, which made registration and submission of articles possible only through accessing its information, the congress was dubbed the first ‘Internet-based Scientific Congress of Iran’ by some in the press.”
The congress secretariat received a total of over 160 articles from within the country and 2 articles from abroad. The scientific committee, after summarizing the opinions of esteemed reviewers and consultants and considering the scientific standards of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA), accepted 53 research articles for oral presentation and 54 research articles for poster presentation. Thus, a large and comprehensive undertaking was accomplished in a short time by utilizing all available resources and adhering to scientific criteria and standards.
In this congress, for the first time, adherence to the ethical principles of research on live animals (ethics) was considered as one of the factors for accepting articles. The invitation to the President of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association to this congress as a keynote speaker, a first for scientific congresses in Iran, was another step towards the development of this branch of veterinary medicine.
Image Caption:
Dr. Gabriel L. Varga – President of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (left), Dr. Kamran Malekpour – Executive Secretary of the Congress.
