Poett Street
Poett Street
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1893 John Luke Poett
John Luke Poett, Vet in the Saddle
John Luke Poett, Vet in the Saddle
Have you ever walked by this plaque on Wellington Street and wanted to know more about John Luke Poett?
The Plaque reads: Brandenberger Block: erected by W. M. Brandenberger, included amongst the people and businesses here was John Luke Poett, first veterinary surgeon of the North West Mounted Police.“
John Luke Poett was a graduate of the Class of 1860, Edinburgh, Scotland Veterinary College. In 1870 he moved to Stratford with his two children and his wife Merina. The town was in the midst of a boom which followed after the GTR moved its engine shops from Toronto to Stratford. For Poett, Stratford was especially attractive as it did not have its own veterinarian.
Despite this apparent opportunity, Poett took nearly a year to open an office. His first advertisement appeared in the Stratford newspaper in October 1871. It announced simply that John Poett, had opened an office and gave the business hours as 8 A.M. to 6 P.M., with the added note that he could be reached at home after hours. No mention was made of Poett's training or experience and there was no need to take such trouble as he was now the only veterinarian advertising in the paper.
Poett was in Stratford for less than three years when an opportunity arose which profoundly affected his career. In May 1873, the Canadian parliament enacted legislation which provided for the establishment of a Mounted Police force in the Northwest Territories. A skeletal outline of the structure and organization of that force, which soon became known as the North West Mounted Police, was included in the act. Among its terms was provision for the appointment of a commissioned veterinary surgeon whose annual salary was to be not less than $400 but not more than $600. The position was tailor-made for Poett so he decided to apply. In 1874 he was officially appointed the first veterinary surgeon for the North West Mounted Police.
Poett first left 1893, Maple Creek Saskatchewan. Taken from the book Vet in the Saddle, by Franklin M. Loew 1939
Merina Poett wearing her “widow's weeds” in 1895 after John Poett died in 1895. She died in 1917 at the age of 87 and was buried near her husband.
His first task was to prepare 200 horses to travel to Manitoba for active duty. The 800 mile trip was terribly grueling. Poett faced the agonizing task of keeping sick, starved and exhausted horses in marching condition and alive. He stayed in Winnipeg and Swan Lake Barracks for three years providing exemplary veterinary services for the NWMP.
When he retired from service (reason unknown) he had only a few options if he wished to continue practicing veterinary medicine in Canada. He was only thirty-seven years old, but with a wife and now six children he could not delay a decision. He chose to return to Stratford where he was known and had achieved a certain respect. In early September the local paper announced Poett's return and his intention to begin "prosecuting his profession of Veterinary Surgeon for which he has a first-class reputation." . Poett's office opened for business with the promise that "all diseases of the domestic animals would be carefully and scientifically treated. For the next seven years Poett's advertisement appeared regularly in the Stratford papers.
In 1884 he returned to the west with his wife and six children for a nine year second tour of duty with the NWMP. He died in 1895 and was buried in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. Text Stratford District Hisotical Society.
Book 1978
To learn more about Poett's tour out west see Vet in the Saddle a free read.
Further History of Poett and the NWMP. The North West Mounted Police Veterinary Service was separate from the RCAVC, but in a para-military copy of the British military model, Canada had the North West Mounted Police (NWMP), the precursor to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The NWMP employed John Luke Poett as their first veterinary surgeon and who was possibly the first qualified veterinarian in the Northwest. Here too the British influence can be seen, as he was a graduate of the Class of 1860, Edinburgh Veterinary College (popularly known as the “Royal Dick”). After a brief engagement with the British Army and private practice in both London and Stratford Ontario, he was appointed to the NWMP on 29 April 1874. As a mounted para-military organization, it travelled great distances, relying on Poett and subsequent veterinarians to care for the horses that were fundamental to the NWMP’s duties. As we all know, the horse is still an iconic image of the RCMP, as honoured in the Musical Ride. Source: Stratford and District Historical Society FB.
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