If you take your dog, cat or fish to see a vet in the UK, the person who treats them is likely to be a woman. According to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, 61 per cent of current UK vets are female. University admissions are even more skewed. Among vets who had recently qualified, nearly 80 per cent were female.
This wasn’t always the case. In the 1930s, when James Herriot – author of books including All Creatures Great and Small and for many the iconic British vet – was practising, almost all vets were male.
