The State Veterinary Service (SVS) was, from 1938 to 2007, an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or N ...

of the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

(Defra), a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was the government's delivery agent, responsible for

animal health Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutr ...

and

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The State Veterinary Department was set up in 1865 in response to an outbreak of rinderpest in London. The State Veterinary Service was established in 1938, and was overseen by the

Chief Veterinary Officer Chief veterinary officer (CVO) is the head of a veterinary authority (typically a national government service comprising veterinarians, other professionals and paraprofessionals). They have the responsibility and competence for ensuring or supervis ...

. On 1 April 2007 State Veterinary Service joined with Egg Marketing Inspectorate, Dairy Hygiene Inspectorate and Wildlife Licensing and Registration Service to create a new enlarged agency called

Animal Health Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutr ...

References

Agricultural organisations based in the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Health in Worcestershire Organisations based in Worcestershire Science and technology in Worcestershire Veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom Veterinary organizations {{veterinary-med-stub