Page 15 - Winter 2011

during that hectic period, no time for home life – my wife and our dogs travelled with me.
PG: How did you get involved with the Faculty of Homeopathy?
CD: In the early 80s, I’d heard about the Medical courses they had and signed on for them, to see what they had to offer. There I met two other vets, Francis Hunter and Alan Warren.
I was interested in teaching vets and I thought I could modify the medical courses to suit vets, so I spoke with the authorities at the Faculty and we started the veterinary courses. At first we ran an extra hour, purely for vets, on the last day of each course (a Friday), then we expanded it to a half day on the Saturday, and eventually a full day. We also integrated some veterinary insights into the medical lectures.
To go forward and offer a qualification we had to create a foundation of Veterinary Members, so in 1987 I was made the first VetMFHom. It was not ‘healthy’ to be the only one, so I proposed three others who had suf- ficient training and experience: Francis Hunter, John Saxton, and George MacLeod – we became referred to as the ‘gang of four’ but I can’t remember whence that name came. I went on to develop standards in homeopathic training and education. I was made Veterinary Dean of the Faculty in 1988.
In 1994 the Faculty stopped providing direct teaching and became an accrediting body. Their courses were taken over by the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital but for various reasons it didn’t work out. I knew Lee Holland as a homeopathic doctor in Oxford, and of the Homeopathic Physicians Teaching Group which he and seven other doctors had found- ed a couple of years previously, so after a little organisation we trans- ferred the course there. I backed out of leading the course, as I was Veterinary Dean and being involved in one teaching centre was not com- patible with my view of impartiality and transparency. I realised that other centres may evolve. Eventually the veterinary course at the HPTG was completely integrated into the Medical course.
PG: What about the court case?
CD: In March 2000, RSPCA commenced criminal proceedings against me and the owners for alleged neglect of a dog with skin and ear prob- lems. They seized the dog illegally and had it treated at a veterinary school, whereupon it went into convulsions and it was euthanized. The case revolved around a homeopathic aggravation of the skin symptoms. It was a terribly stressful experience, which involved court session throughout 2001. The prosecution changed the charges more than once. John Saxton gave expert evidence and eventually I was exonerated. Then, in 2003, at the instigation of the main RSPCA expert witness, the head vet of the RSPCA and the vet to whom the RSPCA had taken the patient when seized, the RCVS charged me on the same case, with slightly altered charges. This was very irregular and eventually, after a year we applied for a judicial review, which upheld my complaint. With the first case I was fighting for my livelihood, reputation and homeopathy; with the RCVS I was fighting for homeopathy, because it would have set a precedent, which would have left homeopathic vets immensely vulnerable.
PG So the future?
CD: I have no plans for retirement – I still get a tremendous buzz out of the work. In the short term, I have plans to drive from Land’s End to John O’Groats on an All Terrain Vehicle (Quad bike) but I intend to modify it so
it can do 60 miles on water – to start with across the River Severn, then the length of the Caledonian Canal (including Loch Ness). This is planned to take place some time in 2012, when I can obtain the necessary machine and raise funds. Anyone willing to lend me a machine?
PG: What advice would you give to someone setting out on the homeo- pathic journey?
CD: Prepare for a rollercoaster! There will be highs and there will be lows. There will come a time in the ‘honeymoon period’ when you will experi- ence a crash. You have to pick yourself up and start again. It is a very exciting period in homeopathic development. Enjoy all the ‘new’ stuff, but don’t abandon the ‘old’.
PG: What about the ‘New methods’ (such as Sankaran and Scholten)? CD: I think they are brilliant and exciting. Sometimes they are difficult to apply to animals, but any insight into and experience of materia medica has to be useful. Don’t forget the old ‘ploddy’ way. Keep the basic prin- ciples in mind. They have not changed. If you have a solid foundation you can build on it, and it must be remembered that all those of our col- leagues who are enthusiastically teaching the new methods have had a good grounding in their early years. This has enabled them to take up the new thinking with confidence.
Don’t pull up the bridges behind you – leave a pathway for people to follow you – and avoid the ‘guru’ mentality. There have been some incredibly inspired contributions to understanding – but these teachers aren’t God. Avoid ‘- isms’, such as ‘high potency’ ; ‘low potency’ ; ‘Kentian’ ‘unicist’, ‘pluralist’ and so on. These labels and the tendency to form ‘factions’ are not constructive. Anything that works is good medi- cine! Also remember the adage: ‘united we stand, divided we fall’. Diversity is also a form of strength, so we should not seek to stifle ‘differ- ent’ concepts. However, any ‘arguments’ about homeopathic methodol- ogy should be kept in the realm of intellectual discussion, not battlegrounds.
PG: How do you see the future of homeopathy generally?
CD: Well, the current antagonism is running out of steam. It’s too late to ignore the link between homeopathy and the research into the properties of water and other bio-energetic phenomena. I sense desperation in the opponents of homeopathy – old patents on medicines are running out, and new ones are slow to develop. Their easy money is proving more dif- ficult to obtain. The public is not completely fooled by the intense propa- ganda and drugs are failing to fulfil their promise. I see a massive opportunity and opening for homeopathy. We need to keep up the energy during this challenging time so we can fill the vacuum when it happens.
BAHVS Animal Energy 2012 – 30th Birthday Conference, Eastbourne, Sussex
SUN, SAND, SALt and SEA
29 June – 1 July, 2012