MANHATTAN — The Kansas State University's Veterinary Health Center recently celebrated the renovation of its livestock receiving and treatment area with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Guests from Merck Animal Health attended and help cut the ribbon.

"The livestock receiving area had been virtually unchanged since 1978," said Bonnie Rush, Hodes family dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. "We needed to build cattle-handling facilities that are more cattle friendly and student friendly. We were fortunate to receive support and expert help from Merck Animal Health in redesigning this area. We were also helped by Kip Lukasiewicz, a 1999 graduate of this college, and Temple Grandin, a prominent expert on livestock handling systems."

"With the renovations made, we can process patients safely and efficiently," said Matt Miesner, section head and clinical professor in Livestock Services at the Veterinary Health Center. "It's a beautiful facility and it's an extremely functional facility. It's a great benefit for us and the students and our clients. We just saw an example yesterday. We had a couple of bucking bulls brought in to be vaccinated. In the old days, that was not simple —but now we can handle it with ease."

Miesner said improvements not only came from a need for structural repair but a need to rise to the standards of modern, safe, efficient and low-stress animal handling methods.

Upgrades include:

• New drive-thru unloading feature to improve patient drop-off and pickup.

• Holding pens, alleyways, sweep and bud tub handling of cattle to improve output and safer movement of patients.

• A new rotational chute provides increased versatility to examine large animal patients with lameness.

• An upgraded obstetrics handling area will improve services for pregnancy-related disorders.

Shannon Kellner, associate vice president for the U.S. Livestock Team at Merck Animal Health, cut the ribbon at the ceremony and spoke about Merck Animal Health's relationship with K-State and the College of Veterinary Medicine.

"We have several K-State veterinary alumni employed in our livestock division since we are located in Lenexa, Kansas," Kellner said. "Although we are a large company, we still feel we are relationship-based when it comes to our partnerships and our customers. It's important to work with people who align with our mission. We're very proud to be a part of this dedication event for this beautiful facility and to know what it's going to do for the veterinary college and how we can continue to partner with K-State."

Merck Animal Health is the global animal health business of Merck. Merck Animal Health offers veterinarians, farmers, pet owners and governments one of the widest ranges of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services, as well as an extensive suite of connected technology that includes identification, traceability and monitoring products.