French veterinary surgeons went on strike yesterday, and 10,000 marched on the streets of Paris in protest at Government plans to restrict their ability to supply certain farm animal antibiotics.

According to the National Union of Practicing Veterinarians (SNVEL), French veterinary surgeons saw the Government plans as an attack on their integrity and competence, and called for the strike, the first of its kind in history.

As a result of the strike, French Ministers have apparently pledged to retract their plans, something which was welcomed by veterinary representatives at the end of the march to the Ministry of Health (see right; click to enlarge).

At the same time, the SNVEL organised a 'Day Without Veterinarians' in all the French Departments. Given that there are only 11,000 practicing vets in France, 10,000 of whom were in Paris, that bit can't have been a particularly difficult logistical challenge.

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