Breaking News

Columbus, Ohio - A new study conducted by The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine suggests that pigs raised without antibiotics were more susceptible to parasitic infections and disease.

Austin, Texas - A year after establishing its first 39,325-acre quarantine to fight fever ticks, the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) has expanded its watch zone by another 307,000 acres.

Blacksburg, Va. - Dr. F. William "Bill" Pierson, interim director of the veterinary teaching hospital at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech since last July, now has officially been named to the full-time veterinary teaching hospital director position.

Kenilworth, N.J. - Schering-Plough HomeAgain LLC released its advanced ISO (134 kHz) microchip to all its customers in the United States. The introduction addresses recommendations from many major veterinary and animal welfare organizations.

Augusta, Kan. - After retiring in 2006 from the veterinary practice DVM Gary D. Harmon and his wife, DVM Cathy Harmon, have run since 1969, the Kansas veterinarian questioned what to do with all of his spare time.

Elmont, N.Y. - A $17 million, state-of-the-art equine referral hospital near Belmont Park that will serve the New York metropolitan area will open in early September, according to its owners, International Equine Acquisitions Holdings (IEAH), the group that owns 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown.

Baton Rouge - Learn about claw disease, nasal dermatoses and other dermatological ailments at Louisiana State University (LSU) conference this fall.

Washington - A new drug that promises to combat coldwater disease in freshwater fish has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Bismarck, N.D. - Two cases of anthrax have been confirmed in animals in North Dakota so far this year.

Washington - A bill was introduced into the U.S. Senate July 10 that would counteract a U.S. Department of Agriculture proposal to allow the importation of beef from a region in Argentina - a country that has not yet eradicated foot and mouth disease FMD).

Butte County, Calif. - Veterinary clinics throughout a rural county about 90 miles north of Sacramento have managed to stay out of the line of fire so far, but many residents have been forced to flee from their homes and take their animals with them as fires continue to blaze around them.

Rockville, Md.- A new rule will go into effect this fall prohibiting the extra-label use of cephalosporin antimicrobial drugs in food animals.

St. Paul, Minn. - Dr. Trevor Ames is the new dean of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, after holding the post of interim dean for a year.

Schaumburg, Ill. - The executive summary of the AVMA One Health Initiative Task Force, charged with defining "one health" and providing recommendations and strategic actions to support and expand the concept across the health professions, will be released July 15.

Ithaca, N.Y. - A 22-member national task force appointed three years ago to develop a set of uniform guidelines for efficient spay-neuter programs to reduce pet overpopulation and euthanasia released its recommendations.

Philadelphia - A new way to vaccinate against avian flu, developed at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, could better protect against mutations and multiple flu strains.

Davis, Calif. - A research collaboration among three universities discovered that climate extremes often are to blame for mass die-offs in livestock and wildlife.

Asheville, N.C. - A state-of-the-art spay/neuter clinic dedicated to controlling dog and cat overpopulation opened in Asheville, N.C.

Ithaca, N.Y. - Two clinical research programs at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine will receive $1 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over the next four years.

North Canton, Ohio - Jennifer Jellison, DVM, was featured on "Pet Spaces," an episode of the national TV show "Designing Spaces."

Gilbert, Ariz. - Gilbert Veterinary Hospital won the 2008 National Pet Dental Health Month Awareness Contest from Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. It will receive $1,000 toward hospital improvements and the winning entry will be posted on www.PetDental.com.

Wilmington, Del. - A veterinarian, beaten and bruised by churchgoers who subdued him after police say he fired three rounds of ammunition into a crowd of more than 80 at a church fund-raiser May 25, could face the death penalty for allegedly shooting and killing a Delaware church leader.

Mexico - Armed with a book called "The Peaceful Pill," foreign tourists are heading to Mexico to purchase pentobarbital from veterinary-supply stores and backstreet pet shops near the U.S. border.

Gadsden, Ala. - A month after telling of being attacked and left to watch his clinic burn, Alabama DVM Jerry Handley was charged with second-degree arson, seven counts of animal cruelty and a misdemeanor charge of filing a false police report after confessing to police that he set the fire at his clinic and shot himself to make it look like an attack.

Rockville, Md. - A workshop on developmental approaches to companion-animal antimicrobials is slated Oct. 23-24 at the U.S. Pharmacopeia.

New York - The AKC Humane Fund and Pfizer Animal health organized a new informational Web site at www.stopcanineobesity.com.

Manhattan, Kan.- Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute is the nation's first designated biosafety level-3 biocontainment research and training facility that can accommodate high-consequence pathogen research on food animals and crops.

Tampa, Fla. - Three veterinary specialty hospitals from different parts of the country merged under a new partnership known as BluePearl Veterinary Partners, the principals of which say they will offer a new paradigm in veterinary medicine.

Baton Rouge, La. - A new book written by a member of the Louisiana State University equine studies team chronicles what is being called the largest equine rescue ever.

Sacramento, Calif. - The same day a new tape was released by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) showing alleged new abuse of cattle at a New Mexico livestock auction, a state Assembly panel rejected legislation that would have required slaughterhouses to install surveillance cameras.