Thanks to the dedication of our donors, there is a lot of activity around the UC Davis veterinary hospital as we create the heart of the new Veterinary Medical Center. The current renovations are generating additional diagnostic, examination and treatment space while facilitating more efficient workflow. In addition, two new satellite expansions are underway. 

Light illuminates the brilliant white head of a bald eagle as it spreads its chocolate-brown wings and beats them against the air. The raptor — on the brink of death only months before after being hit by a car — lifts into the sky.   This majestic moment of success was made possible through hours of painstaking rehabilitation and care provided by staff and a dedicated team of volunteers at the UC Davis California Raptor Center.  

For the past 30 years, UC Davis veterinary students, faculty and staff have provided care for underserved pets. The community outreach started with Mercer Clinic for Pets of the Homeless in Sacramento in 1992, and grew to include a clinic in Knights Landing, a Mercer satellite clinic in Davis, and a clinic farther north in Mendocino County. Each of these programs may have a different history of origin, but they all share a dedication to caring for animals and providing access to care for the people who love them. 

Short legs, squishy face, spotted coat — these distinct traits that endear some dog breeds to us are frequently the result of inbreeding. In a recent study published in Canine Medicine and Genetics, an international team of researchers led by UC Davis veterinary geneticist Danika Bannasch shows that the majority of canine breeds are highly inbred, which contributes to an increase in disease and health care costs throughout their lifespan.

Ndakasi, a mountain gorilla whose image went viral after she photobombed a caretaker’s selfie three years ago, has died at the age of 14 after a long illness (not COVID). She was orphaned at two months old when poachers killed her family and received medical care throughout her life from Gorilla Doctors – a partnership between the school’s Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project.

One of my first activities when I became dean last fall was to spend a Sunday morning at the student-run Knights Landing One Health Center veterinary clinic. It serves a rural, underserved community near Davis by providing free health care for their pets and educating clients about health care available to their families. Improving animal health and human health advances overall community health and fulfills one of our key school missions.