SIC 0741 Veterinary Services For Livestock

SIC 0741

This industry consists of establishments of licensed practitioners primarily engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine, dentistry, or surgery for cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, and poultry. Similar establishments primarily engaged in veterinary medicine for all other animals are classified in SIC 0742: Veterinary Services for Animal Specialties.

NAICS CODE(S)

541940

Veterinary Services

Roughly half of the food Americans eat is derived from animals (in the form of meat and dairy products). Thus, the focus of this industry is largely aimed at maintaining adequate and safe food supplies for humans through the treatment of livestock injuries and diseases. Because disease accounts for billions of dollars in lost revenue for the livestock industry—around $3 billion in the 1990s and 2000s—veterinary establishments specializing in preventive medicine for larger animals (cattle, sheep, and swine) are integral to increasing livestock productivity and profitability.

Veterinarians held about 61,000 jobs in 2004. Approximately 20 percent of veterinarians were self-employed in a solo or group practice, and about 25 percent of all veterinarians worked in mixed animal practices, where they attended to pigs, goats, sheep, and some nondomestic animals in addition to companion animals...