The American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) Council on Education, the accrediting body for veterinary colleges in North America, recently confirmed Saskatoon-based WCVM’s status as “Accredited (w/minor deficiency).”

“Minor deficiency” refers to “items that have minimal or no effect on student learning or safety and are typically resolved within one year,” the WCVM said Friday in a release.

AVMA council accreditation, granted for up to seven years at a time, is meant to assure colleges meet or exceed minimum standards in veterinary medical education and provide education that prepares students for entry-level positions in the profession.

The “minor deficiencies” to be fixed in WCVM’s case include having adequate signage in patient isolation areas and a clarification of admission requirements on the college’s web site, WCVM said.

Much of the work in resolving those issues has already been done or is near completion, WCVM dean Douglas Freeman said in the college’s release.

The WCVM’s accreditation followed a “comprehensive self-study” submitted to AVMA last August, followed two months later by a council-appointed team’s five-day site visit, which included meetings with WCVM students, faculty, staff, alumni and other stakeholders.

Alberta funding

That said, the WCVM noted, the AVMA council’s final report on accreditation acknowledged the Alberta government’s announcement that it won’t renew its participation in the WCVM’s four-province funding agreement after 2020.

Alberta announced in October it will gradually pull its $8 million in annual funding from the WCVM and instead expand the veterinary school at the University of Calgary.

That decision didn’t affect the WCVM’s most recent accreditation, the college said, but it noted the AVMA council will now require “regular updates” on the status of the interprovincial partnership and college funding.

Evidence of financial stability, the WCVM said, is “a critical part of the accreditation process.”

“It’s worrisome when a veterinary college loses a quarter of its annual operating base,” Freeman said. “But we are working within the college and with regional partners to address this challenge with creative solutions.”

The AVMA council also recently confirmed full seven-year accreditation for another Canadian vet school, the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island.

“To prepare for our site visit last fall, we began to prepare 16 months in advance,” AVC dean Dr. Greg Keefe said in a release Thursday.

That included a “detailed self-study” submitted last summer to the AVMA council, he said, followed up by a week-long visit by a team made up of representatives from the AVMA council, the AVMA itself and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Vet college’s full accreditation survives funding cut appeared first on Farmtario.

Virginia-based Mars on Monday announced a US$9.1 billion, US$93 per share deal for all outstanding shares of VCA Inc., whose assets cover almost 800 animal hospitals with 60 diagnostic labs across North America.

Those assets include Calgary-based AVC, which today operates as the Canadian unit of VCA with over 80 veterinary hospitals and clinics, employing over 2,000 people including 350 veterinarians.

AVC today operates sites in and around Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria, Saskatoon, Nanaimo and Lake Country, B.C., and across southern and eastern Ontario, treating companion and exotic animals.

VCA, headquartered in Los Angeles, first took a minority stake in AVC in 2008 and bought control of the business in 2012, for a total combined investment of C$77 million.

AVC, on its website, promotes itself as an option for veterinary clinic owner-operators seeking a succession or exit strategy, “whether you are looking to stay with the hospital full time, reduce your time, or step away completely.”

Mars, whose Mars Petcare business is headquartered in Brussels and includes the Pedigree, Iams, Whiskas and Royal Canin pet food brands, is also already a player in veterinary services, with assets including the Banfield, Bluepearl and Pet Partners animal hospital chains.

Once the deal closes, which is expected to happen in the third quarter of 2017, VCA would become a “distinct and separate business unit within Mars Petcare,” parallel to Banfield and Mars’ other veterinary units, the company said.

The deal also still requires approval from VCA shareholders and the “customary regulatory approvals,” Mars said, noting it already has “committed financing” in place for the purchase.

While holding a significant share of the global pet care market, Mars is arguably better known worldwide as the owner of Mars Chocolate, which produces the M+Ms, Twix, Snickers and Mars candy brands; Mars Food, owner of the Uncle Ben’s brand; and chewing gum and hard candy maker Wrigley, whose brands include Skittles, Life Savers and Altoids.

In October, Mars announced plans to combine the Wrigley and Mars Chocolate arms into one division, Mars Wrigley Confectionery, to be phased in later this year.

The move follows Mars having “accelerated” its purchase of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway’s minority stake in Wrigley. — AGCanada.com Network

The post Mars to buy animal hospital chain appeared first on Farmtario.

Details of the agreement in principle, announced last week, are “still being finalized,” the province said in a release, but service delivery is expected to begin this month.

Generally, however, the agreement calls for AVC staff to handle “more complex cases” involving horses, while the province’s Veterinary Field Services unit will continue to handle “routine and emergency general practitioner services” such as health exams and treatment for horse diseases.

AVC, the province said, will expand its staff and its inventory of mobile equipment related to “ambulatory care” for horses, and will “arrange regular services” to New Brunswick horse owners.

“Dr. Kathleen MacMillan and her team in our equine ambulatory group will add specialist capacity to the provincial service, and will be supported by a strong team of highly-skilled surgeons and internists at our Veterinary Teaching Hospital,” AVC dean Dr. Greg Keefe said in the same release.

The deal in principle marks the first time AVC will provide services through the agriculture department’s vet clinic in Fredericton, the province said.

The province’s large animal veterinary clinic in Fredericton functions as a medical and surgical referral centre for both outpatient and in-clinic cases serving multiple large animal species in New Brunswick.

AVC will also provide “periodic on-site services” in the Moncton area, the province added.

The province’s own network of veterinarians provides field services for livestock and poultry through offices in Moncton, Sussex, Wicklow, Edmunston, St. Quentin, Dalhousie, Bathurst and Miramichi City. — AGCanada.com Network

The post AVC to handle non-routine care for New Brunswick horses appeared first on Farmtario.

The province on Tuesday named Dr. Carolyn Sanford to fill the post, in which she’ll oversee policy and regulatory issues related to animal health and welfare, including livestock and poultry as well as the “cultured finfish industry.”

Sanford, already the provincial epidemiologist for the health department, will keep both roles, a decision the province said “will strengthen the link between those involved in human and animal health.”

Sanford will also handle all provincial veterinarian tasks laid out in the province’s Animal Health and Protection Act and related regulations, and oversee “provincial actions” in any potential disease outbreak in the livestock or poultry sectors, the government said.

“Dr. Sanford has extensive training as a veterinarian and her expertise in epidemiology will be of great benefit to both the livestock and aquaculture industries,” provincial Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Alan McIsaac said in a release.

Sanford replaces Dr. David Lister, a Montague veterinarian and secretary treasurer of the P.E.I. Veterinary Medical Association, who served as interim provincial veterinarian.

The interim position was meant as a “transition” post after the province concluded its memorandum of understanding with the AVC, which previously handled the provincial veterinarian duties.

“The provincial finfish industry is export-focused and has potential for growth and that is why monitoring and approving transfers is of paramount importance, to ensure diseases of local significance to the health of fish stocks are not moved between aquaculture sites or provinces,” McIsaac said.

Therefore, he said, “providing the service of a veterinarian under contract of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries will enable growth by providing support to Island companies and assisting them to meet the requirements to transfer their fish to other provinces.”

Sanford’s job description will also include oversight for the health of finfish being transferred to and from P.E.I., and issuing certification that they meet the Atlantic provinces health criteria for such transfers.

Sanford will also serve as the province’s representative to the Canadian Council of Chief Veterinary Officers. — AGCanada.com Network

The post P.E.I. brings provincial vet job in-house appeared first on Farmtario.