title: Knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicine in the Province of Granada, Andalusia, Spain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This paper constitutes an important contribution to the knowledge of biological resources used in ethnoveterinary practices (EVPs) in southern Europe, a territory with a clear lack of information on the subject.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To catalogue, analyze, and disseminate the knowledge of plant and animal use in ethnoveterinary practices in the province of Granada. Data have been analyzed to highlight the similarities between ethnoveterinary practices and human ethnopharmacology for the same study area.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information was gathered through open and semi-structured interviews with local people, mainly elderly shepherds and farmers, in the western part of the province. The primary data have been supplemented with information on EVPs from previous ethnobotanical works for the province. Data were gathered using the same field methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 88 ethnoveterinary uses are documented for the treatment of 24 animal conditions. Of these, 82 uses involve 60 different plant species. Over three-quarters of these plants are also used for some human conditions in the same study area. Moreover, 6 animal species were catalogued for 6 other ethnoveterinary uses; four of these species were also used for similar conditions in humans. Ritual and health-prevention practices are also discussed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EVPs in southern Spain involve a high number of species and conditions and are strongly linked to folk tradition (i.e. how local people understand certain conditions and their treatment, sometimes in a ritual manner). Unfortunately, some evidence of their slow disappearance has been found.
authors.affiliation: European University of Madrid, Biomedical Sciences Department, Madrid, Spain. gbcruz@ugr.es
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benítez
authors.forename: M Reyes
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: González-Tejero
authors.forename: Joaquín
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Molero-Mesa
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D002562:Ceremonial Behavior; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009945:Organotherapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D013030:Spain; D019155:Veterinary Drugs / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014730:Veterinary Medicine
chemical_list: D028321:Plant Preparations; D019155:Veterinary Drugs