James M. Lewis

Stillwater, Okla. - It began with the college newspaper's interview with a philanthropist who said she wanted to redirect her $5 million gift to Oklahoma State University's Center for Veterinary Health Sciences because of the way animals used in teaching and research there were treated.

Reno, Nev. -- An offer from Madeleine Pickens to create a million-acre sanctuary for up to 30,000 wild horses could cost the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) more than it presently pays for long-term holding facilities for horses removed from public lands, according to the veterinary representative on the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board.

Bismarck, N.D. - Veterinarians, ranchers and horse breeders packed the state's House Agriculture Committee meeting to urge passage of a bill to study the feasibility of building a horse meat-processing plant.

Miami Beach - The American Association of Equine Practitioners On Call program, which provides veterinary expertise to the media at racing events, received the Thoroughbred racing industry's prestigious Eclipse Special Award.

Lexington, KY. - The Thoroughbred racing industry has been on a mission following a Congressional hearing last year to prove that it can improve safety and medication issues without government regulation.

Columbia, S.C. - Veterinarians and animal-welfare groups are among those named in civil lawsuits filed by two members of a South Carolina family after they were charged with animal abuse.

National Report - The business of buying and selling veterinary practices continued into early 2009 at a steady pace, with some brokers even reporting sales increases.

Tory, Mo. - When it comes to merging practices in the same community, veterinarians remain "fiercely independent."

National Report - Federal and state veterinary officials continue to look for the source of an outbreak of contagious equine metritis that now affects at least 575 horses in 45 states.

Center for Veterinary Health Sciences issued strongly worded rebuttals to comments by the wife of Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens about how the veterinary school treats animals it uses in teaching and research.

Reno, NV. - The spiraling nationwide problem of how to deal with thousands of unwanted horses isn't just about domesticated horses.

National Report - Investigators tracing a wide-ranging outbreak of contagious equine metritis (CEM) made important discoveries and took steps to halt the infectious reproductive disease, but after nearly two months the origin remains elusive and quarantines and testings continue.

Davis, Calif. - A faculty organization at the University of California-Davis has come up with a proposal for dealing with unwanted horses and intends to create a template that communities anywhere in the country could follow.

Reno, Nev. - Thousands of unadoptable wild horses in U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding facilities could be saved from possible euthanasia or slaughter if the agency decides to accept an offer for a sanctuary.

There are tens of thousands of them across the nation. And their numbers are growing at an alarming rate.

What can be done about the growing problem of unwanted and abandoned horses in America?

San Diego -- Attendance at the 54th annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) appears to be falling short of last year's record turnout but is still relatively on par with previous years, based on a preliminary count Dec. 8.

Kennett Square, Pa. - Is this country ready for an agroterrorism attack? The FBI recently worked with the veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center. Six Penn veterinary students participated.

Lexington, Ky. - A retrospective study of 57 horses treated for proliferative enteropathy aims to help equine practitioners make a timely diagnosis.

Salt Lake City - Just short of six months after it opened, the Utah Pet Center - billed as the nation's largest - closed.

Rockville, Md. - The American College of Veterinary Surgeons is developing sub-specialization certification program tentatively slated for introduction in 2010.

NATIONAL REPORT - Anyone wishing to buy or sell a veterinary practice shouldn't have any more difficulty doing so than they would have had before the recent sharp downturn in the U.S. economy.

A group of veterinary specialty practices is working on a plan expected to result in a consolidation of about 12 practices next year.

Lexington, Ky. - Another key organization within the horse-racing industry is joining a growing movement toward reform.

Read about Erle Glennwood Case's journey from grammar-school teacher to veterinarian.

AUSTIN, TEXAS - "It's no exaggeration to liken this to a bombing site. That's how bad the destruction is," says Dr. Elbert Hutchins, executive director of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA).

Officials say better management practices could prevent the spread of equine piroplasmosis (EP).

Veterinarians "in general have a roguish attitude" toward protecting themselves against dangerous infections and zoonotic diseases.

They worked long days, sometimes from dawn to midnight, caring for 218 world-class performance horses competing in the 2008 Olympic equestrian games.

It's a big year for mosquitoes in Florida, and one result is a much higher incidence of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).