In 2008 the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) broke ground on a $28.5 million expansion and renovation. Now the state-of-the-art project is complete, and the lab is better equipped to serve Kentucky’s animal agriculture industries.

"This new facility finally puts us in a position where we can take our diagnostic testing services to the next level for Kentucky animal agriculture," said Craig Carter, DVM, MS, PhD, director of the lab. "We thank our legislature, industry stakeholders and the College of Agriculture administration, especially Dean Scott Smith and Associate Dean Nancy Cox, for their vision and incredible support of our program."

The UKVDL is a full-service animal health diagnostic facility. Its faculty and staff handle one of the largest caseloads in the nation, seeing 60,000 clinical cases and performing an average of 4,000 necropsies each year. The laboratory also protects public health by diagnosing many zoonotic diseases that can potentially infect people.

Prior to the renovations, the lab had one of the smallest necropsy floors in the United States. Now, at 3,000 square feet, it’s one of the largest