[Professional liability of veterinary practitioners (author's transl)]

There are two spheres of professional liability of veterinary practitioners, in which claims can be made on these practitioners in their quality of insured. These are their liability for services and their liability for products. In both fields the issue is one of the care with which veterinary drugs and vaccines are used in an animal or group of animals respectively. As data on the subject are virtually absent in the literature, experience will have to provide the basis. In jurisdiction in the Netherlands, recourse is frequently had to Section 1401 of the Civil Code where services are concerned. Liability for products is marked by a line adopted by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community. It can be concluded that improvement of uniformity in the field in question may be achieved by lengthy discussion. In assessing claims for damages, however, each case will have to be judged on its own merits.