"The Philippines needs more veterinarians particularly with the urgent need to look after our countryís food security in this time of climate change and an uncertain economic future."
"The Philippines needs more veterinarians particularly with the urgent need to look after our countryís food security in this time of climate change and an uncertain economic future."After a period of renovation, the anatomy collection center of the University of the Philippines College of Veterinary Medicine in Los Baños, Laguna has reopened and is now ready to once again to receive visitors.
The facility was named the Dr. Jose A. Solis Museum of Veterinary Anatomy in 2009, in honor of the man who was one of the greatest achievers in that field. In fact, many of the specimens in the museum were prepared by Solis.
Solis graduated from UP CVM in 1934. He placed second on the veterinary board examination of 1936. He completed graduate studies in veterinary anatomy at Iowa State College in 1954, obtained a diploma in Veterinary Teaching and Research from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural College of Denmark in 1964, and taught at UP CVM for decades, beginning as an instructor in 1937 and retiring as Professor 8 in 1977. He died in 1981.
I was at UP-CVM last week for a meeting with colleagues in government and we were given the honor of a sneak peek at the museum the day before the reopening ceremony. Thanks to Dr. Ceferino Maala, professor emeritus of the College and former assistant dean, we got a tour of the museum and saw the specimens and other exhibits up close.
There are excellent mounted skeletons of two horses, a pig, cow, carabao, tiger, and a very large dog. One of the skeletons, that of a large German horse, was donated by Dr. Romy Modomo, an expert in equine medicine, who was with us on that visit. Another interesting skeleton was that of a false killer whale, its spine about two yards long. There were also horse and cow skulls, their sections painted different colors and used as teaching aids.
The museum has specimens other than bones. The skins of a horse, dogs, and other animals are displayed on the wall. Shadow boxes on the wall hold sagittal sections of a horse’s forelimbs, which Modomo said were very well-made because the tendons could be seen quite perfectly. There is a stuffed pawikan and a tiger’s head, as well as several large birds, likely raptors, that are miracles of taxidermy.
Eleven glass display cases hold jars of preserved fetuses and anomalies. UP-CVM is the only museum in the country that “features malformations and anomalies of domestic animals,” said Maala. Examples of these anomalies include no-faced and two-faced animals that I did not take close looks of, lest they be the stuff of my nightmares.
Maala added that the museum is “waiting for the skulls of a Philippine crocodile and Palawan crocodile from the Palawan Wildlife Reserve Center.”
To prevent the deterioration of all its specimens, the museum is fitted with four air conditioners. They will also help make guests more comfortable; according to Maala, the museum is one of the most-visited sites at UPLB, attracting hundreds of students of all ages each year for educational and research purposes.
The museum was revamped in connection with the 60th anniversary of the Venerable Knight Veterinarians fraternity and Venerable Lady Veterinarians sorority (VKV-VLV) of the College, which donated most of the funds for the renovation. Maala himself sponsored a new exhibit, a photo gallery of “who’s who in veterinary anatomy,” among them Solis.
Maala says they hope to put up in the near future an audiovisual room beside the museum where visitors can watch videos on topics such as the “parturition of different domestic animals, meat inspection, embalming of animals for the gross anatomy laboratory, stuffing of birds, and surgical procedures.”
As we were leaving, one of our party, an alumnus of the College, went back inside the building carrying sacks containing a horse skull and other horse parts, additions to the museum and for use as teaching aids. UP-CVM is fortunate that its alumni care so much for it.
I hope that more specimens will be donated. I didn’t see a cat skeleton, and the museum should have one of a tarsier (perhaps the College can request one from the sanctuary at Bohol?) and other animals endemic to the Philippines.
The Philippines needs more veterinarians particularly with the urgent need to look after our country’s food security in this time of climate change and an uncertain economic future. The Dr. Jose A. Solis Museum of Veterinary Anatomy is poised to provide additional knowledge for veterinary students and those who wish to learn more the subject, as well as provide the spark that could inspire young people to become veterinarians.
Congratulations to UP-CVM, Dean Eduardo B. Torres, Dr. Maala, VKV-VLV, and everyone at the College who worked hard to make the museum renovation a success.
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Museums are necessary because they preserve and display items of significance to society. FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO