ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 14 October 2021 doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.710019 Multifarious Trajectories in Plant-Based Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Northern and Southern Eastern Europe Giulia Mattalia 1,2*, Olga Belichenko 1 , Raivo Kalle 3 , Valeria Kolosova 1,4 , Natalia Kuznetsova 4 , Julia Prakofjewa 1 , Nataliya Stryamets 1 , Andrea Pieroni 3,5 , Gabriele Volpato 3 and Renata Sõukand 1 1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy, 2 Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 3 University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Bra, Italy, 4 Institute for Linguistic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia, 5 Department of Medical Analysis, Tishk International University, Erbil, Iraq Edited by: Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu, Over the last century in the European context, animal production has been transformed North-West University, South Africa by the dynamics of centralization and decentralization due to political and economic Reviewed by: factors. These processes have influenced knowledge related to healing and ensuring Alberto Mantovani, National Institute of Health (ISS), Italy the welfare of domestic animals. Therefore, our study aimed to document and compare Begum Yurdakok Dikmen, current and past ethnoveterinary practices, and to identify trajectories in ethnoveterinary Ankara University, Turkey knowledge in study regions from both northern and southern Eastern Europe. In the *Correspondence: summers of 2018 and 2019, we conducted 476 interviews, recording the use of 94 plant Giulia Mattalia giulia.mattalia@unive.it taxa, 67 of which were wild and 24 were cultivated. We documented 452 use reports, 24 of which were related to the improvement of the quality or quantity of meat and milk, while Specialty section: the other 428 involved ethnoveterinary practices for treating 10 domestic animal taxa. This article was submitted to Veterinary Pharmacology and Cattle were the most mentioned target of ethnoveterinary treatments across all the study Toxicology, areas, representing about 70% of all use reports. Only four plant species were reported a section of the journal in five or more countries (Artemisia absinthium, Hypericum spp., Linum usitatissimum, Frontiers in Veterinary Science Quercus robur). The four study regions located in Northern and Southern Eastern Europe Received: 14 May 2021 Accepted: 07 September 2021 did not present similar ethnoveterinary knowledge trajectories. Bukovinian mountain Published: 14 October 2021 areas appeared to hold a living reservoir of ethnoveterinary knowledge, unlike the other Citation: regions. Setomaa (especially Estonian Setomaa) and Dzukija showed an erosion of Mattalia G, Belichenko O, Kalle R, Kolosova V, Kuznetsova N, ethnoveterinary knowledge with many uses reported in the past but no longer in use. Prakofjewa J, Stryamets N, Pieroni A, The current richness of ethnoveterinary knowledge reported in Bukovina could have been Volpato G and Sõukand R (2021) developed and maintained through its peculiar geographical location in the Carpathian Multifarious Trajectories in Plant-Based Ethnoveterinary Mountains and fostered by the intrinsic relationship between the mountains and local Knowledge in Northern and Southern pastoralists and by its unbroken continuity of management even during the Soviet era. Eastern Europe. Front. Vet. Sci. 8:710019. Finally, our results show some patterns common to several countries and to the veterinary doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.710019 medicine promoted during the time of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet Union Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 1 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe and its centralized animal breeding system, resulted in a decline of ethnoveterinary knowledge as highly specialized veterinary doctors worked in almost every village. Future research should examine the complex networks of sources from where farmers derive their ethnoveterinary knowledge. Keywords: alternative and complementary veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, livestock, local ecological knowledge, plant-based remedies INTRODUCTION alternative for improving animal health and welfare. For instance, veterinary phytotherapy can find new applications in In many societies, livestock significantly contribute to human agroecological or organic agricultural practices, a fast-developing food security by providing several important food products, sector in Western Europe (18). In addition, ethnoveterinary other valuable goods (e.g., wool, leather, and fat), agricultural knowledge can contribute to local biodiversity conservation (19, inputs (e.g., manure), and services (e.g., transport, plowing). 20). Indeed, the health of an ecosystem and the livestock and However, over the last century in the European context, people who inhabit it are strictly interdependent and need to be animal production has been transformed by dynamics of considered holistically (21). centralization and decentralization (1, 2). These phenomena have Within this framework, our study aimed to document also modified the associated veterinary knowledge and practices. and compare current and past ethnoveterinary practices, and While industrialized areas of Western Europe have increasingly to identify trajectories in ethnoveterinary knowledge in rural shifted to highly technological animal breeding, in several rural borderland areas of eight countries from northern and southern communities of Europe, especially in mountainous regions, Eastern Europe, namely Finland, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, circum-Mediterranean areas, and post-Soviet contexts, livestock Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Romania. We further discuss maintain their historical role in the livelihoods of peasants and what factors may have contributed to the persistence/erosion of they have been considered truly part of the family realm (3). ethnoveterinary knowledge in Eastern Europe. Animal breeding involves maintaining animal health and welfare. Scholars have found that the knowledge related to healing and ensuring the welfare of domestic animals has MATERIALS AND METHODS been largely abandoned in industrialized areas of Europe (3), while it appears to be relatively alive in rural contexts of the Study Area Mediterranean (4) and in some areas of Eastern Europe, e.g., In the summers of 2018 and 2019, we conducted semi-structured Belarus (5–7). In the Mediterranean region, folk veterinary interviews in four regions in eight countries that are home to nine knowledge has been partially preserved due to geographical main ethnolinguistic groups (Table 1). isolation and distance from veterinary services, yet it is rapidly Bukovina is a historical region of the Austro-Hungarian declining and being replaced by modern livestock farming Empire that has been split between Romania and Ukraine since technologies and administrative veterinary controls (4). In 1940. It is inhabited by several ethnic groups including Jews, several areas of Eastern Europe, a similar trend may have its Ukrainians, Poles, Romanians, and Hutsuls. Bukovina is partially roots in the political events that occurred during the time of occupied by the North-Eastern Carpathians which reach an the Soviet Union and after its collapse. Indeed, during most of altitude of 1,651 m a.s.l. We conducted our research among the Soviet period, kolkhozes (collective farms) for animal (and Hutsuls living in the Carpathian villages of the upper Suceava crop) production were implemented, and each household could Valley in Romania and Putyla Rayon in Ukraine and among own only a small number of livestock (e.g., chickens, pigs, cows, Romanians living in the pre-Carpathian hills of Straja (Romania) sheep, goats) for subsistence (8). At the beginning of the 1990s, and Storozhenets and Glybotskyi district in Ukraine. Both in when the Soviet Union collapsed, political changes resulted in Ukraine and in Romania, most of the interviewees rely on a profound transformation of agricultural production in Eastern family farming. Europe, with a concurrent decentralization and relocalization of Dzukija is a historical and cultural region located in the veterinary knowledge production and implementation (9). borderlands of Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus. This border area The use of plants for veterinary practices is well-studied has long been a crossroads for trading routes and has been in some regions of Eastern Europe. For instance, in Ukraine subject to a series of changes in national status. It is now mainly several scholars have investigated this topic [e.g., (10–13)], inhabited by Lithuanians and Poles. It is characterized by plain focusing on specific regions of the country (14, 15) or specific and hilly rural areas and is currently experiencing a remarkable diseases (16, 17). However, most of the studies focusing rural emigration. Soils throughout the studied region are sandy on Eastern European ethnoveterinary medicine have been and of little agricultural value. We conducted interviews among published in local languages. Indeed, in the international Lithuanians living in several villages of Augustów and Sejny literature written in English, ethnoveterinary medicine is an counties of Podlaskie Voivodeship (Poland), Šalčininkai district underexplored field in Eastern Europe, but its preservation of Vilnius County (Lithuania), and Hrodna, Voranava, and and implementation are increasingly considered a promising Ašmiany districts of Hrodna Region (Belarus). Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 2 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe TABLE 1 | Main characteristics of the study area. Region Country Main groups Languages Number of SSI Dominant landscape Karelia Finland Finns, Karelians Finnish, Karelian 71 Plains covered by forests and lakes Russia Russians, Karelians Russian, Karelian 61 Plains covered by forests and lakes Setomaa Estonia Estonians, Setos Estonian, Seto 78 Mixed forests, fields, and marshy areas Russia Russians, Setos Russian, Seto 46 Plains covered by pastures and forests Dzukija Belarus Lithuanians Lithuanian, Belarusian 33 Plains covered by pastures Lithuania Lithuanians Lithuanian 30 Plains covered by pastures Poland Lithuanians Lithuanian 32 Mild hills covered by pastures Bukovina Ukraine Hutsuls, Romanians Ukrainian, Romanian, Russian 65 Mountain and hilly areas covered by forest and pastures Romania Hutsuls, Romanians Romanian 60 Mountain/Forest and pastures Karelia is a historical region currently divided between overall comparative picture of the current and past uses of plant- Finland and the Russia. Agricultural lands occupy only a small based ethnoveterinary remedies in Eastern Europe (Figures 1, percentage of its territory, which is mainly covered by forests, 2). We conducted 476 semi-structured interviews among rural a crucial resource for the local economy (22, 23). In Russian people conveniently selected while they were walking down Karelia, during the last century, significant areas of meadow the street, sitting on public benches (in the regions in which have appeared in place of abandoned arable land, but due this was common), or working in their gardens. Our aim was to the cessation of grazing and haymaking, field degradation to understand the existence and dynamics of ethnoveterinary occurs which results in tree overgrowth and the spreading knowledge among the non-specialist population living in the of shrub vegetation (24). In Finnish Karelia, forestland has studied rural regions. We interviewed people mainly in one-to- been maintained over the last few decades through forestry one interviews, although on some occasions interviews involved intensification (25). On the Russian side, fieldwork was carried other members of the household as well. out in Petrozavodsk, Zaozer’e, Lekhnavolok, Novaya Vilga, In Finnish Karelia, interviewees were also identified in Priazha, Essoila, Korza, Rubchoila, Siamozero, and Kalevala. On advance through various social networks as it was not always the Finnish side, the interviews were conducted for the most possible to approach them directly. We consider this sample part in North Karelia (Joensuu, Lieksa, Nurmes, Valtimo, Ylä- robust given the fact that saturation was reached after about Valtimo, Puukari, Rasimäki, Varpasenkylä, Viensuu, Viinijärvi, 10–15 interviews per country. Sotkuma), while a few were conducted in Helsinki. Before each interview, prior informed consent was obtained Setomaa is a region located at the Estonian-Russian border following the Code of Ethics of the International Society of inhabited by speakers of the Seto and Russian languages. Ethnobiology (28). Upon consent, questions on ethnoveterinary After WWII, the largest part of the formerly united historical medicine were asked in the context of documenting the whole Setomaa was incorporated into the Russian Soviet Federative plant use-system using the same methodology in all the countries. Socialist Republic and remained there even after Estonia regained The questions were directed toward the healing of the livestock independence. Since the twentieth century, rapid alterations and other animals in the households using plant-based remedies. to the environment (like climate change and changes in the The general question on the presence of animals in the landscape due to the abandonment of agricultural activities) have household was followed by questions regarding the healing of led to the disappearance of some native plants (26) and the every animal mentioned by the interviewee and on the ways primary sector is continuously declining (27). Interviews were in which these plant-based products improved the quality of conducted in the villages of Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast in animal products (e.g., milk, meat) both in the past and in the Russia and in Setomaa, Võrumaa-, and Tartumaa in Estonia. the present. We consider quality that which, in different ways On the Russian side, most of the interviewees were retirees. and based on interviewees’ perceptions, improves, enhances, During their lives, they worked in various positions in sovkhozes and intensifies the characteristics (e.g., in terms of taste, smell, (state farms)–dairymaid, crop specialist, accountant, and head nutritional properties, etc.) of milk and meat. We allowed of the land plot. We also spoke to two zootechnicians–one has interviewees to freely talk about the topic, asking follow-up changed jobs since then while the other is still practicing. questions when needed. When a wild plant was mentioned, we asked the interviewee to show it to us if possible. Collected voucher specimens are stored in the herbarium of Ca’ Foscari Field Study University of Venice (UVV) for countries of the European Union The research was part of a wider study, namely the ERC- (Finland [bearing numbers KAR02–KAR012; KARDR10 and funded DiGe project, aiming to understand the mechanisms of KARDR24], Estonia [bearing numbers SE001–SE135], Lithuania change in ethnobotanical knowledge that occur among cross- [bearing numbers DZULT01–DZULT126, and DDZULT01– border minorities when a dominant group tries to modify this DDZULT45], Poland [bearing numbers DZUPL001–DZUPL107 knowledge. The four regions were selected in order to give an and DDZUPL01–DDZUPL39], Romania [bearing numbers Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 3 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe FIGURE 1 | Research sites. FIGURE 2 | Landscapes of (A) Bukovina, Izvoarele Sucevei (Romania), summer 2019 (credit: Nataliya Stryamets); (B) Dzukija, Tabariškes (Lithuania), summer 2018 (credit: Julia Prakofjewa); (C) Karelia, Essoila (Russia), summer 2018 (credit: Valeria Kolosova); (D) Setomaa Panikovichi (Russia), summer 2018 (credit: Olga Belichenko). Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 4 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe SB003–SB096]), while the specimens collected outside of the Only four species were reported in five or more countries EU are deposited in Roztochya Nature Reserve for Ukraine (Artemisia absinthium, Hypericum spp., Linum usitatissimum, [bearing numbers NB001–NB085] and in the Komarov Botanical Quercus robur). Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg for the The majority (61%) of the DUR were currently in use, while Russia [bearing numbers LE 01063392–LE 01063946 (http://en. 39% referred to past uses. However, excluding the Bukovinian herbariumle.ru/)]. Carpathian area (our Ukrainian and Romanian case studies), When possible, interviews were recorded upon the the proportion of currently used DUR drops to 12%, while the interviewee’s approval and transcribed in the local language; in remaining 88% refers to past ethnoveterinary uses. Indeed, as the few cases when recording was refused, we took notes. Later, illustrated in Figure 4, current uses were widely reported in we entered this information in English into an Excel spreadsheets Romania and Ukraine and to a lesser extent in Russian Setomaa, organized as detailed use reports (DUR) of plant-based remedies, Poland, and Belarus. Karelians, Estonian Setos, and Lithuanians where each row contained the country and ethnic community of referred only or mainly to past uses. the interview, its code, the scientific name of the plant, its local The digestive and reproductive systems were the most name, the part used, when it was used, the mode of preparation, common targets of ethnoveterinary remedies (Figure 5). For and its use. Botanical taxa were classified using World Flora the digestive system, diarrhea was the most reported ailment Online (2021). The botanical families were classified according followed by stomach illnesses and other issues such as intestinal to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (29). gas, rumination problems, and abdominal pain. For treating The research protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee diarrhea, the most commonly used plants were Rumex spp. of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. (reported in four countries across three regions), Hypericum spp. (reported in five countries across all four regions), and Quercus robur (reported in five countries across all four regions). RESULTS In regard to the reproductive system, the most common issues involved calving and the use of postpartum supplements. The In the four regions where this study was conducted, we recorded most utilized plant for treating the reproductive system was the use of 94 plant taxa, 67 of which were wild and 24 were Linum usitatissimum, mentioned in four countries and three cultivated, from 189 interviewees. We documented 452 use regions. Among the listed plants some (e.g., Atropa belladonna, reports, 19 of which were related to the improvement of the Cannabis sativa, Hypericum spp.) could potentially have negative quality or quantity of meat and milk, while the other 428 involved effects on animals. While no interviewee explicitly mentioned ethnoveterinary practices for treating 10 domestic animal taxa. possible adverse side-effects, they were not assessed, being out of Out of the 476 interviews we conducted in the four study regions, the scope of this article. 189 reported ethnoveterinary uses. Below, we focus first on ethnoveterinary knowledge related to cattle as about 70% of the use reports concerned cattle illnesses (Figure 3). Ethnoveterinary Remedies Related to The Importance of Cattle Other Livestock Cattle were the most mentioned target of ethnoveterinary Excluding cattle, we documented 130 DURs related to 44 plant treatments across all the study areas. We recorded the use of 55 taxa belonging to 28 botanical families that were used for treating plants belonging to 25 families (Supplementary Tables 1, 2) for nine animal taxa, including pigs, honeybees, sheep, turkeys, this purpose, 35% of them were cultivated and 65% were wild. chickens, geese, horses, dogs, and cats. Only three species were found to be used in four countries: Picea abies (three regions), Quercus robur (three regions), and Urtica dioica (two regions). The livestock most commonly treated with ethnoveterinary remedies were pigs (39 DURs), which were mainly mentioned in Russian Karelia and Russian Setomaa. As in cattle, the most widely treated illness was diarrhea, primarily in pigs. Also, five plant taxa (above all Urtica dioica) were used, especially in Dzukija, as feed supplements (13 DURs). Plants to Improve Animal Product Quality In addition to ethnoveterinary remedies, we also recorded the use of 19 DURs referring to ten plant taxa for improving the quality of milk, meat, and in one case pig bristles (Table 2). More than half of the uses (11) were reported in Bukovina, the rest in FIGURE 3 | Distribution of ethnoveterinary use reports by animal category. Lithuania and Russian Setomaa. None were reported in Karelia. The most common plant was Urtica dioica, which was reported Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 5 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe FIGURE 4 | Alluvial graph of the number of ethnoveterinary remedies (colored stripes), country (on the left), and time of use (on the right). by six people in Bukovina for improving milk quality and by one interviewee in Lithuania for improving pork meat quality. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge Dynamics Out of the 476 interviews we conducted in the four study regions, 189 interviewees reported ethnoveterinary uses (Table 3). Specifically, Bukovina had the highest percentage of people who mentioned ethnoveterinary remedies (58%), followed by Dzukija (44%) and Setomaa (41%). Karelia was the region where less ethnoveterinary knowledge was reported (only 21% of respondents could mention at least one remedy). Bukovina was also the region with the highest rate of DUR per person (2.5), followed by Dzukija (2.2). When examining the data from a cross-border perspective, we can observe that bordering countries in Bukovina and Karelia reported similar percentages of interviewees mentioning ethnoveterinary remedies and DUR referring to the past. However, in Dzukija, especially in Poland and Lithuania, a higher percentage (86 and 90%, respectively), of past uses were mentioned compared to Belarus (73%). Similarly, in Setomaa the percentage of interviewees who could mention at FIGURE 5 | Distribution of detailed use reports (DUR) related to cattle least one ethnoveterinary remedy was 23% in Estonia, while it ethnoveterinary remedies. was more than double that (59%) in Russian Setomaa. Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 6 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe TABLE 2 | Plant taxa used for improving the technological quality of some animal products. Latin name and family Local name Part used Preparation Use Use reports (*past) Arctium tomentosum Mill. (Asteraceae) [W] Лопух (RS) Leaves Fresh Improving cow milk quality RS Chelidonium majus L. (Papaveraceae) [W] Czystaciel (LT); Aerial parts Fresh; Infusion Improving cow milk quality 2 UA; LT* чистотiл (UA) Chenopodium album L. (Amaranthaceae) [W] Balanda (BL) Aerial part Fresh Improving pork meat quality LT* Linum catharticum L. (Linaceae) [C] Linučiai, linuciai (LT) Seeds Infusion Improving cow milk quality (increase LT* fat in the milk) Linum usitatissimum L. (Linaceae) [C] Лён (RS) Seeds Fresh Improving pig bristle quality RS* Rumex confertus Willd. (Polygonaceae) [W] Шiва (UA) Leaves Fresh Improving sheep milk and wool quality UA Salix spp. (Salicaceae) [W] Paju (FI) twigs and leaves Fresh or dried Improving cow milk quality FI* Stellaria media (L.) Vill. (Caryophillaceae) [W] Žliuge (LT) Aerial parts Fresh Improving pork meat quality LT* Trifolium spp. (Leguminosae) [W] Trifoi (UA) Aerial parts Fresh Improving cow milk quality UA Urtica dioica L. (Urticaceae) [W] Dilgele (LT); Urzica Aerial parts Infusion Improving cow milk quality 4 RO; 2 UA (RO); кропива (UA) Fresh Improving pork meat quality LT* W, Wild species; C, Cultivated species; LT, Lithuania; RO, Romania; RS, Russian Setomaa; UA, Ukraine. * No longer in use, number of use reports (UR) is indicated if more than 1. TABLE 3 | Ethnoveterinary knowledge by region. DUR (n) DUR referring EV respondents Total % of interviewees % of DUR DUR per to past uses (n) respondents (n) who mentioned EV referring to past interviewee (n) remedies uses Romania 74 1 34 60 57 1 2.2 Ukraine 108 2 38 65 58 2 2.8 Total Bukovina 182 3 72 125 58 2 2.5 Belarus 26 19 15 33 45 73 1.7 Lithuania 39 35 15 30 50 90 2.6 Poland 28 24 12 32 38 86 2.3 Total Dzukija 93 78 42 95 44 83 2.2 Finland 20 18 15 71 21 90 1.3 Russian Karelia 36 36 15 61 25 10 2.4 Total Karelia 56 54 30 132 23 95 1.9 Estonia 27 23 18 78 23 85 1.5 Russian Setomaa 71 60 27 46 59 85 2.6 Total Setomaa 98 83 45 124 41 85 2.0 “I Call the Doctor!” and Other Attitudes TABLE 4 | Prevalent attitudes toward ethnoveterinary remedies. Toward Ethnoveterinary Practices Prevalent attitudes toward Countries in which the concept We recorded different attitudes regarding the use of plants ethnoveterinary remedies was mentioned for treating animals (Table 4). Interviewees often expressed a dichotomy between official veterinary services and plant-based (Now) we call the veterinary doctor Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Russian Karelia, Russian Setomaa, Estonia, solutions. For instance, when asked about their actions in the Lithuania, Poland, Finland case of animal illness, several interviewees said, “Normally we Better to use drugs, they are more Belarus, Poland, Lithuania call the veterinary doctor” (Romanian Hutsul man born in reliable 1951) and “I call the vet and he gives me something but I Better to use drugs, they are faster Russian Setomaa, Russian Karelia do not know what” (Romanian Hutsul man born in 1934). In Better to use herbs, they are more Romania Ukraine, some interviewees specified that “Now we go to the effective doctor” (Ukrainian Romanian woman born in 1939) or “For this In the old days, animal healers knew Russian Karelia, Russian Setomaa, [mastitis], now we need to call the doctor” (Ukrainian Romanian incantations Belarus, Lithuania woman born in 1983), underlining that this was not the case in And if we can, we cure the cattle Russian Karelia, Romania the past. ourselves Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 7 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe In the Dzukija region, older respondents reported the loss was a veterinary doctor working in every large village with of ethnoveterinary knowledge as a reason for turning to official kolkhoz who helped locals to treat cattle. An Estonian Seto veterinary medicine: “There are no more people who know woman born in 1938 narrated: “Animals had flax seeds after the right herbs and remedies. Now there are veterinarians. calving, but otherwise, if something was wrong, we had to call If someone needs something, they turn to veterinarians” the vet.” (Belarusian Lithuanian woman born in 1946). Informants from In Finnish Karelia, an interviewee claimed that in the 1950s, both the Belarusian and Lithuanian sides of Dzukija noted that “Veterinarians were not used as the nearest veterinarian was state-sanctioned veterinary medicine appeared with the advent of 35 km away. There was someone among the people, who was the Soviet state and the formation of kolkhozes [∼1950]. On the familiar with these problems, and he/she was called only if there Polish side, older Lithuanian interviewees mentioned that they was some illness and you were unsure of what you should do” mainly healed animals with drugs (Polish Lithuanian woman (Finnish woman, born in 1978, living in Finland). born in 1929). At the same time, although the older generation of Human-Livestock Connectedness in interviewees living on the Belarusian and Lithuanian sides Eastern Europe of the Dzukija region is characterized by a lack of trust in Our interviewees from the four regions often mentioned the deep official medicine, the middle and younger generations prefer connection they have or had with their livestock. For instance, medicines over medicinal herbs. For example, a middle-aged in Russian Karelia, an Ingrian-Russian woman (born in 1954) female respondent noted that it is better to treat cows with drugs, mentioned, “We had goats, sheep, yes... well, at that time it was not herbs. For her, using chemicals is a more reliable option kind of necessary, because living was not very... how to say?–easy. (Lithuanian woman living in Belarus woman born in 1954). Therefore, we kept them,” stressing the role livestock played in Among the respondents who worked on kolkhoz between the guaranteeing food security. 1950s and 1990s, some noted that they used home remedies for Also, a Russian woman, born in 1966, living in Karelia the kolkhoz animals: “I worked on the farm, raised calves, and reported using human food for feeding animals: “They just none of them died. I made bottles for them at home. There were subsidized bread very, very much. [. . . ] My Karelian grandmother pałyn (Artemisia absinthium), čystacieł (Chelidonium majus). fed all her cattle with bread. It was cheaper than growing potatoes And I carried these bottles to the kolkhoz” (Lithuanian woman and buying grain from a sovkhoz. And my dad, having a car, living in Belarus woman born in 1941). every day brought her two loaves, four loaves, of bread. It was In Russian Karelia and Setomaa, the decision to call a a strange idea of our household, but bread was subsidized, and veterinary service (instead of treating livestock using plant-based the rest was not.” remedies) was sometimes perceived as a matter of time, as In Romania, a Hutsul interviewee (Romanian Hutsul woman one veterinary doctor mentioned, “You know, when I started born in 1961) clearly explained the nexus between “eating in working, there were already antibiotics [. . . ]. But even at the a healthy way and livestock breeding. When asked about any beginning of my work [in the late 1970s], in fact, they did possible product she could give animals to produce more milk not pay much attention to folk remedies. Well, maybe because she exclaimed, “Ah, no, I do not give them anything. Well, to be this is a longer path to recovery, whereas one needs the result precise, sometimes a bit of bran, when animals come in at night immediately. After all, they use more modern ones here” (Russian and in the morning when milking, but otherwise, grass. Here we Seto woman born in 1939). This was also confirmed by a eat healthily.” It is worth noting how “we” includes both humans retired kindergarten nanny: “And as with pills, you call a doctor, and animals, as a whole, and therefore if animals eat healthily because it is fast for calves, yeah, for calves. Quicker with humans will as well. them, because herbs are too slow” (Russian woman, born in In the Dzukija region, however, among the villagers, there 1962, living in Karelia). Conversely, in Romania, some older is often a reasonably practical approach: “We did not contact interviewees were skeptical about official veterinary medicine: anyone. If an animal lives, it lives. Nothing was treated. As the “Teas of Hypericum, Equisetum, Carum carvi, dried bread, and old then died” (Lithuanian woman living in Belarus woman born the grains of Coriandrum sativum are better than furazolidonul in 1939). We recorded a profound respect for livestock. Many [a vet medicament]” (Romanian woman, born in 1948, living respondents said that, for example, a cow is a very clever animal in Romania). that knows what to eat and what not to eat. At the same time, In the Soviet Union, it was not difficult to receive veterinary the respondents remembered many instances of using herbal consultations (“The vet lived right here. They [vets] came on foot, remedies in various rituals related to the prevention of diseases came [by bus or truck], some on horseback,” said a Russian Seto in livestock. In particular, the tradition of blessing animals with woman born in 1956). However, some interviewees also reported a palm bouquet has survived to this day: “And also animals were that “there were specialists, but at home, you were mostly on smoked with that Easter Palm. Yes, if they got sick then they did our own” (Russian Karelian man born in 1950). Contrastingly, it” (Lithuanian woman living in Lithuania born in 1938). Setos another interviewee stated, “Cattle were not treated at home, used Salix sp. twigs consecrated on Palm Sunday. They placed only by a veterinarian. In the old days, there were very good these twigs on the barn door to protect animals. Both Seto and veterinarians. Only the veterinarian treated animals” (Russian Russian people recalled drawing a black cross with charcoal above Karelian man born in 1929). Indeed, during Soviet times there the barn door, on baptism day, to protect animals. Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 8 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe It should also be noted that a large number of our respondents’ lot [. . . ]. Now they make much more hay, but the grass lasts, recollections concerned the use of various plants for the which in the past did not happen because everyone here had treatment and prevention of culture-bound illnesses in domestic livestock, much more than now since there are no animals, animals, such as fright and the evil eye: “For fright, there is because milk is paid almost nothing, and so why keep a cow uročnikas [Gymnocarpium dryopteris] [. . . ] which is good for the if the milk. . . [is paid nothing]” (Romanian Hutsul man and evil eye as well. [. . . ] Especially for animals, we used to collect it, woman born in 1934 and 1939, respectively). However, they if someone casts the evil eye, you smoke it, and it was a medicine” also proudly stated, “Milk here is natural, from flowers, cows (Lithuanian woman living in Lithuania born in 1939). graze on flowers and also eat hay. The milk is fatty, it is good.” Finally, a Romanian teacher living in Romania claimed, “I have Perceived Changes in Livestock Keeping had livestock, but my children have left, parents have passed Among the changes in livestock keeping mentioned by away, and working and caring for animals is hard, so I gave it interviewees who lived during Soviet times, the crucial role of up,” and then she continued counting the number of livestock in cows was reported: “When collectivization took place, only one the village: “For instance, my grandparents had a lot of livestock, cow was left for the family. Whether it was one person, or seven sheep and cows, and in summer they used to go to the mountain people, still only one cow was left for the family. And they also pastures, but now I think that in the entire village only five people handed over meat, milk, and eggs [to the procurement system]. go to the mountains. Also, the animals are few: we had about 50 It was a difficult period then” (Russian woman, born in 1940, animals, the same number as our neighbors, but now, in all the living in Setomaa). This was also confirmed by an elder Finnish area, there are barely 10.” Karelian woman who remembers that whipped cream from the In the Dzukija region, the respondents noted that cows grazed only cow remaining was an important resource: “I remember, in everywhere in the village in the recent past [1980–1990s]. “And the 1970s, when it was decided that we would be left with one only this year locals killed the last cow” (Lithuanian woman living cow. At that time, cream was skimmed from milk and whipped in Belarus woman born in 1939). Now, mostly older people keep as whipped cream.” Another participant commented, “It was not at the most chickens, although, in comparison with the past, they considered a farm if there was no cow” (Russian Karelian man had a rather large farm. Thus, a respondent from the Belarusian born in 1928). In addition, a retired Karelian seamstress (born side of Dzukija noted that in her youth, she and her husband kept in 1954) living in the Russia mentioned that cattle disappeared three cows, three pigs, a horse, a lot of chickens, geese, and sheep, because “the mowing was very bad, and it was necessary first and now she only has three chickens (Lithuanian woman living to give hay to the sovkhoz, and therefore my parents got rid in Belarus woman born in 1946). of the cows.” This issue of the lack of hay was also mentioned The most evident difference in livestock keeping was in by a Karelian forestry specialist: “It was torture to keep a cow. Poland, where the Lithuanian minority are larger-scale farmers. When I was in elementary school, my father had a MAZ lorry. They still keep many animals and sell the milk to the state. In Mowing was not allowed then, and they drove in the direction of Communist times, farming in Poland was nationalized only to a Interposiolok to steal hay; they mowed on the side of the road and small degree. Just a small proportion of food production was state returned with it at night–either to the neighbors or to our own based, while the majority remained in private hands. This also farm. They helped each other, dried... they dried hay, we dried meant that private farming in Poland was highly fragmented, as hay, and that’s all... so... and lived” (Russian Karelian woman born the state did not encourage mergers and land acquisition. in 1948). Among other more recent changes, a Seto interviewee claimed, “And now you can list the cow in the Red Book, only DISCUSSION a few cows remain. So, there are no animals to treat actually” Our results showed that the four study regions located in Eastern (Russian Seto man born in 1943). An Estonian Seto woman, born Europe do not present similar ethnoveterinary knowledge in 1938, commented, “I had three cows, and for a short time also trajectories. Bukovinian Romanians and Hutsuls appear to hold four. When the Estonian state started, it destroyed all the cows, a living reservoir of ethnoveterinary knowledge, unlike the other no one needed milk anymore. Milk churn stands were lost.” A regions as summarized in Figure 6. However, despite differences younger Estonian Seto man (born in 1953) explained his point in the richness of ethnoveterinary knowledge, cattle were the of view, referring to the current availability of state jobs: “There livestock most commonly treated with herbal remedies in all were those “state” works [e.g., kolkhoz and sovkhoz], and, on top four regions. Setomaa (especially Estonian Setomaa) and Dzukija of them, people had their own animals and farmland. But have showed an erosion of ethnoveterinary knowledge with many uses you seen that now no one raises animals like cows or pigs at all? reported in the past but no longer in use. Pigs can’t be kept anymore, because that bastard plague (African swine fever) is here.” In Ukraine, an older Romanian woman explained, “I do not have a cow now, but I had one. I have had Bukovinian Carpathians as a Reservoir of it for many years, but now I am old, weak and I really cannot Ethnoveterinary Knowledge keep it.” The current richness of ethnoveterinary knowledge reported in A couple of Romanian Hutsuls reflected upon our question Bukovina could have been developed and maintained through regarding agricultural changes in the last few decades: its peculiar geographical location. Unlike the other study areas “Agriculture has changed since our youth. It has changed a of this research, our fieldwork in Bukovina was carried out in Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 9 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe FIGURE 6 | Possible drivers of the persistence of ethnoveterinary knowledge in Bukovina (left) compared to possible drivers of ethnoveterinary knowledge erosion in Setomaa, Dzukija, and Karelia (Credits: Johanna Lohrengel). mountainous and peri-mountainous areas. For centuries, the particularly cattle breeding, is a daily activity for both Hutsuls (Bukovinian) Carpathian Mountains have served pastoralists and and Romanians living in Bukovina. This is specifically due to specifically transhumant herders (30). In particular Hutsuls, one the importance of milk, which can provide a regular and reliable of the studied ethnic groups, are well-known for their centuries- source of protein and/or cash income throughout the year, in a long expertise in mountain pastoralism (31). We observed context where no other agricultural commodities can do this, as that several Hutsuls still use their polonyna (summer pastures) observed by Kitching (36). Indeed, milk, when processed, is a or send their animals out with other shepherds. However, crucial element of the local diet and cuisine (30, 37). Among the long-term (pacific) coexistence of Hutsuls with other ethnic dairy products which play an important cultural role, identifying groups, could have facilitated the sharing of their knowledge Hutsuls as mountain pastoralists, the most salient is bryndza, of animal breeding (especially ethnoveterinary practices) a complex cheese produced in summer pastures, which has among Romanians living in neighboring pre-Carpathian areas. recently obtained Geographical Indication status when produced Therefore, the mountainous nature of the area could be a key with sheep milk in the Rakhiv region [the first in Ukraine, (38)] element in the resilience of ethnoveterinary knowledge, which and has been included in the Ark of Taste promoted by Slow has also been confirmed by the intrinsic relationship found Food (39). Other dairy products, including budz (a smoked between pastoralists and European mountains [e.g., (32, 33)] and cheese produced among Ukrainian Hutsuls) and (v)urda (a soft possibly, as a result, the related ethnoveterinary knowledge (34). cheese), also contribute to transfer the centuries-long interaction In a geographically remote and rather inaccessible territory, such with the Carpathians into the Hutsul foodscape. as the Carpathian (and pre-Carpathian) territory of Bukovina, Such everyday practices in animal breeding (milking and cattle play a crucial role in terms of food security and economic cheese-making) are still currently present and so is the importance, especially in times of crisis. Still, at the present veterinary knowledge connected to them. Indeed, as observed time, Hutsuls and Romanians rely heavily on animal husbandry by Warchalska-Troll and Troll (40), Carpathian pastoralism was based on small-scale family farms (35). While sheep are very characterized by an unbroken continuity of management even important from a cultural perspective, especially among Hutsuls, during Soviet times. This could be a key for the resilience the small proportion of sheep remedies mentioned may be due to of the ethnoveterinary knowledge in the area. While several several factors including their limited economic importance (it is interviewees reported calling the veterinarian for serious issues, cow, and not sheep, milk which provides income), and possibly most Bukovinian interviewees reported treating minor ailments to the fact that we conducted interviews in the summertime related to the digestive system and calf birthing themselves, when sheep are not with their owners but in mountain areas using ingredients (such as plants) locally available. Often, people with shepherds who might have special treatments for sheep mentioned that “this is good for both people and cows,” revealing which the owners do not know. Therefore, livestock husbandry, the tight nexus between their own well-being and that of their Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 10 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe cattle. These thoughts may have been fostered by the habit, The process of knowledge erosion may be occurring as in several areas of the Soviet Union, to buy bread to feed a result of different socio-economic changes. First, in both livestock, a practice which became so popular that a decree regions, the aging of the rural population has contributed to the banned this “misuse” of bread in 1957 (41). This is also reinforced abandonment of small-scale livestock breeding (51–53). Second, by the observation of Kitching (36) for whom the smallholder the trend of “industrializing” livestock has reduced the number production of livestock (and crops) during Soviet times (and of farms and increased the number of animals per farm [we right after) represents a “remarkable history of survival and also observed this phenomenon in Finnish Karelia, and it has productivity.” Indeed, in the 1990s, home-grown food also been found in the Mediterranean context as well, e.g., (54)]. This played a key role in the survival strategy of communities phenomenon gathered livestock farms in specialized districts and (42) in several post-Soviet contexts, including Northern and makes use of specialized “academic” knowledge, rather than any Southern Bukovina. Thus, livestock were somehow needed and local veterinary knowledge. Third, in Setomaa, we observed that cared for as valuable family members. The harsh times and an increasing number of people are looking for off-farm jobs (e.g., this diffused sense of “extended family realm” reveal a strong government employment) which provide a monetary wage and connectedness to and a holistic vision of the ecosystem where are thus more appealing than farming activities. Such a change people and livestock are equally important actors within a started in Estonia in the 1990s with the transition to a market larger system. economy, when the planned economy was abolished. In this type of shift, animal husbandry, which requires daily attention, is often the first activity to be abandoned, followed by labor- intensive crop production. Fourth, the policies concerning food Possible Erosive Trajectories of production that have been implemented by the European Union Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Karelia, in the last several decades may have impacted the system of Setomaa, and Dzukija livestock farming (55, 56). Finally, there may be a widespread In Karelia, agriculture has been marginalized, especially in tendency to downplay local knowledge by preferring “official terms of the area where hay is still cut and the number of veterinary” medicine, stressing the sanitary and economic natural pastures, due to the declining number of cattle and perspective of animal husbandry. This phenomenon may be the intensification of dairy farming (43–45). We can therefore also fostered by the increased income and availability of official hypothesize that our Karelian interviewees did not mention veterinary medicine. Our interviewees in Estonia explained that many ethnoveterinary remedies for three main reasons. First, due the main reason why it was necessary to call a veterinarian was also in part to the climatic conditions, agriculture and animal that the bacterial content of the milk was measured every time breeding have often played a marginal role throughout Karelian milk was sold. If an animal had inflammation, no milk could history and therefore few livestock animals were kept, although be purchased, so the animal had to be cured quickly, with an their numbers have been sharply declining over the last century antibiotic; yet one was not allowed to sell milk during treatment. (46, 47). This was also confirmed by an interviewee who stated, Thus, people lost financially when they simply poured milk into “I ate my first chicken at 18 and a half years old. We always have the sewers, and one of the main reasons why the animals were elk and game. Why do we need artificial chickens?” (Karelian not treated at home with their own resources was that there were Russian woman born in 1968), underlining that wild food plays strict hygiene requirements for the sale of milk and meat. In a major role in the Karelian diet. Second, Naumov et al. (48) addition, today, sanitary requirements to prevent African swine reported that in Russian Karelia cattle breeding is currently fever have closed all small pig farms. highly subsidized and the subsidies may help pay for veterinary In addition, some local drivers of decline of ethnoveterinary services that were well-developed during Soviet times (9), thus knowledge can be identified. For instance, in Russian Setomaa, abandoning existing ethnoveterinary knowledge. one possible driver could be related to the drastic political and In Setomaa (especially Estonian Setomaa) and Dzukija, we economic changes in the region. Indeed, during Soviet times, recorded more uses, but mainly in the past. We can say that, in animal husbandry accounted for a relevant proportion of food these territories, livestock were quite important in the recent past, production by ruble value, while after 1991 livestock herds but their importance has declined in the last few decades [e.g., declined precipitously and the number of livestock raised by (49) for Belarus and Poland; Kalle and Kass (50) for Estonia]. households continues to decline (57, 58). Also, according to Our interviewees in Estonia still remember when the “one cow” our observations, in Belarus (and partially in Lithuania) a rapid restriction was lifted in the 1980s and everyone was allowed decline in rural population size is one of the drivers of livestock to keep as many animals as they were able to. The restrictions husbandry abandonment and its associated knowledge. In most were lifted as private livestock farmers provided a significant cases, during the autumn-winter period, the older generation portion of the country’s milk. Collective farming system could of respondents goes to live with their children in nearby no longer feed the people and so the economic model had to settlements. When we looked for the most senior residents, change. The main reason why cows are no longer kept in Estonia most of them were in the city under the care of children and is that dairies stopped buying milk from small rural households usually returned home only in the spring and summer. Another during the transition to a market economy. At that time, keeping possible factor that affects the evolution of ethnoveterinary cows became no longer economically viable because there was knowledge in present-day Dzukija concerns political decisions nowhere to sell the milk. related to restrictions on keeping domestic pigs and birds in Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 11 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe the border region. This is linked with the implementation of Deryabin and Tomalcheva (67) reported the use of Quercus EU and the Republic of Belarus regulations in 2014–2020 to robur for treating mild diarrhea (as we recorded in five limit the threat of African Swine Fever. These political decisions countries), but they traced such a use back to the medieval endanger traditional livestock practices by undermining the European medicinal tradition. The use of Quercus robur was very core of their existence, and, accordingly, the practice of also recorded in Gurin (61), Rabinovich (62), and Korobov et al. ethnoveterinary medicine. (63). The roots of Rumex spp., and specifically Rumex confertus, were used in Russian traditional medicine as an astringent (68), use that we also recorded in the Russia and Bukovina. Possible Sources of Ethnoveterinary Its use has only been confirmed in Soviet and post-Soviet Knowledge sources (62, 63). Our results show that ethnoveterinary knowledge partially We can therefore see some overlapping patterns in our overlaps in the selected regions, especially in countries formerly records and the veterinary medicine promoted during the part of the Soviet Union. For instance, some taxa such as the time of the Soviet Union, which established kolkhozes where cultivated Linum usitatissimum and the wild Hypericum spp., livestock breeding was managed by highly specialized actors. Quercus robur, Alnus spp, and Rumex spp. were reported across Indeed, highly specialized veterinary doctors worked in almost several countries. As five out of the eight studied countries every village. Several sources suggest that Soviet medicine were part of the Soviet Union, we compared our field data relied largely on plants and products based on them and against the uses recommended in three popular veterinary thus such uses were often transferred from the human sphere medicine books published in 1919 (Gurin), 1988 (Rabinovich), to the animal one (following the idea that livestock were and 2007 (Korobov), representing the commonly used remedies considered to be part of the family). Although it was not in Imperial Russia, as well as during the Soviet and post-Soviet explicitly stressed by our interviewees, we can see that some periods. Finally, we traced the possible sources of veterinary of our findings reflect the official medicinal and veterinary knowledge related to those plants listed in Bloshenko et al. (59) recommendations of the Soviet Union, possibly through the which were reportedly used for ethnoveterinary purposes in the formation of veterinary specialists who actually treated the Soviet Union. animals. The recommendations themselves relied on veterinary We found that the seeds of Linum usitatissimum were used knowledge derived partially from ethnoveterinary knowledge for their mucolytic and diuretic properties, which is comparable that underwent scientific tests, so the local uses supported with their recorded use for diarrhea, as flaxseed extract has by the official veterinary medicine had a greater chance been proven effective for treating enteric and non-enteric for survival. pathogens (60). These uses were earlier confirmed in Gurin Future research should investigate the heterogeneous (61), Rabinovich (62), and Korobov et al. (63), although the trajectories that ethnoveterinary knowledge takes under seeds were claimed to have a slight laxative effect. In addition, different drivers of change to pastoral systems, and the we recorded the use of Linum usitatissimum as a postpartum complex networks of sources from where farmers derive supplement, which has been found to be effective in rats (64) their ethnoveterinary knowledge. Additionally, it would be due to the presence of beneficial fatty acids (e.g., alpha-linolenic interesting to evaluate the effects of the use of plant-based acid) as reported by Bloshenko et al. (59). Gurin (61) and ethnoveterinary remedies in accordance with current legislation Korobov et al. (63) also suggested the use of flax seeds in in Europe. wet poultices to foster cicatrization. Flaxseeds were commonly sold in pharmacies during Soviet times. Flax used to be an important economic crop in Belarus, Pskov Oblast of Russia, DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT and the Estonian part of Setomaa. During our fieldwork in The original contributions presented in the study are included Pskov Oblast, we often observed remnants of that time period in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be on farms: retting ponds (mochilo) that were used in the cycle of directed to the corresponding author/s. fabric production from flax. Older informants could remember bringing flaxseed to the commonly accessible mills to produce flaxseed oil. ETHICS STATEMENT Bloshenko et al. (59) also reported the ethnoveterinary use of Hypericum perforatum, Quercus robur, and Rumex spp. for The studies involving human participants were reviewed and wound healing and cell regeneration, as well as for their antiseptic approved by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice Ethics Committee. properties. Hypericum perforatum was also mentioned by Duke Written informed consent for participation was not required for (65) who reported that in Soviet times it was used for several this study in accordance with the national legislation and the applications including the treatment of diarrhea, which we institutional requirements. recorded in five of the countries we studied. Various uses of Hypericum were reported by Rabinovich (62) and Korobov et al. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS (63), but they were not mentioned by Gurin (61). However, this plant seems to have been known and used in folk medicine even GM, GV, and RS conceived the study. NK, VK, OB, RS, before the Soviet Union [see (66)]. RK, JP, NS, and GM gathered the data. RS, AP, and GV Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org 12 October 2021 | Volume 8 | Article 710019 Mattalia et al. Ethnoveterinary Knowledge in Eastern Europe supervised the study. GM analyzed the data with the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS help of the co-authors. GM drafted the first version of the manuscript which was then reviewed, edited, and We are grateful to Denis Melnikov (Komarov Botanical Institute, approved by OB, RK, VK, NK, JP, NS, AP, GV, and RS. Russian Academy of Sciences) for identifying the herbarium All authors contributed to the article and approved the specimens from the Russia. Many thanks to Povilas Šarka, Baiba submitted version. Pruse, Ieva Mežaka, and Andra Simanova for their assistance with the fieldwork in Dzukjia region and to Johanna Lohrengel for the illustration. FUNDING SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 The Supplementary Material for this article can be found research and innovation programme (grant agreement online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets. No. 714874). 2021.710019/full#supplementary-material REFERENCES 15. Fainik T. Folk veterinary medicine in Pokut. Ethnogr Notebooks. 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