Breathitt Veterinary Center receives $300,000 fund

    Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recently announced the Murray State’s Breathitt Veterinary Center at the Hopkinsville campus will receive $300,000 in funding.
    This fund will help advance their labs to develop new treatments for various animal diseases.
    According to murraystate.edu, the BVC provides laboratories for clinical pathology, microbiology, toxicology, serology and virology. These laboratories are accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnostics.
    “This fund has to go through the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a block grant,” Wade Northington, director and associate professor in the School of Agriculture, said. “It will be used to support the needs of our labs. We maintain a high level of scientific testing.”
    According to the BVC handbook, the center sponsors outreach programs in which students make field visits to area farms gaining additional experience. It offers courses in animal health technology and pre-veterinary medicine on the main campus.
    Some of the BVC’s staff provides lectures on the main campus. Other students travel to the center in Hopkinsville for hands-on laboratory training.
    Mandy King, senior from Memphis, Tenn., said the program has grown and could use more equipment.
    “Right now, there are 20 students, which is a lot compared to past years,” King said. “We don’t have that much equipment to use in our laboratories.”
    “Only one person from Breathitt has come to campus to teach our classes, but most of the time we have televised lectures,” King said.
    King said she and many other pre-vet and animal health technology students are excited at the prospect of the center receiving funds.
    “I think it will be a good thing because the BVC could really use the money,” King said. “We have a very limited number of supplies; it would be nice to not have to worry about breaking them. The money would really help improve our program.”
    Baly Barlow, junior from Louisville, Ky., said students spend their last academic semester at Breathitt.
    “The Breathitt semester is where pre-vet and animal health technology students take classes on campus in the Oakley applied science building,” Barlow said. “Students used to have to travel to take the classes at BVC, but now there are teachers that speak with the classes over a TV broadcast.“
    Northington said he didn’t know when the center would be given the funds needed.
    Northington said the fund will also help the agriculture program on campus.
    “What people don’t realize is that agriculture is Kentucky’s No. 1 industry,” Northington said. “We want to help provide the best education for the students, with the latest scientific technology.”
    Contact Deren at elaina.deren@murraystate.edu.