DECEMBER:
Veterinary Services Awareness Toolkit
The Air Force Veterinary Corps was disestablished in April 1980 and its animal care duties transferred to the U.S. Army Medical Department. The Army Veterinary Services cares for military working animals and provides public health services during humanitarian assistance missions. But there’s more — they also perform food safety operations and inspections to ensure deployed forces receive the safest food and water available.
In terms of animal care, many joint bases offer a range of services, including exams, routine annual vaccinations, heartworm testing for dogs, and Feline leukemie testing for cats. Some clinics provide dental and surgical services for pets, and several offer kenneling facilities.
What do you need to know to effectively raise awareness about veterinary services?
- Highly skilled, residency-trained veterinary clinicians and surgeons provide care to military working dogs and the service member pet population.
- The Army Veterinary Corps is responsible for almost every meal provided to service members and their families in military facilities worldwide.
- When you eat in a dining facility on a military installation, there is an Army veterinarian, food safety warrant officer, or veterinary food enlisted specialist who is involved in ensuring that the food is safe for you to eat.
- There are roughly 241 facilities worldwide where service members eat.
- The Veterinary Services goal is to ensure that service members are safe and healthy so that we are a ready, reliable and deployable force.