Veterinary Services Program To Be Eliminated

The Veterinary Services Program offered by the Department of Agriculture and Forestry will be eliminated, effective April 15 of this year. The program was established in 1951 to encourage the provision of veterinary services to livestock producers. With the increasing number of veterinarians throughout the province, the program has ceased to become developmental in nature.

Elimination of the program is part of the department's cost reduction plan. It will reduce the department's expenditures by $204,000. Although the use of veterinary services varies among operations, the average impact of the elimination of the program will be $175 for the approximately 1200 livestock operations in the province.

The program provided financial support to owners of livestock, excluding horse owners, through cost sharing veterinarian fees by 20 percent to a maximum of $16 an hour and 20 percent of the charge for travel to the farm to a certain maximum depending on the distance between the farm and the vet clinic.

For more information, livestock producers may contact Dr. Wendell Grasse, Director of the department's Agriculture Division at 368-5645.