Donation Policy

Numerous animals are brought to the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) or the Veterinary Medical Center (UF VMC) as part of normal operations. These constitute two categories:

      • Those that are presented with clinical signs and are submitted for diagnosis and treatment of existing medical or surgical disorders. These animals are treated within the VMC as either in-patients or out-patients on a fee-for-service basis.
      • Those which are unconditionally donated to the CVM or to the VMC. This may include animals originally presented as category 1 (above) but whose owner subsequently makes the decision to donate the animal. These animals will be used in the teaching and research programs of the CVM and the VMC and subsequently disposed of at the discretion of the administration of the CVM and the VMC.

Donations can be made only with the agreement and/or acceptance of the CVM or the VMC. All such donations must be unconditional with the owner giving up all future interest in or authority over the animal. Animals that are unconditionally donated to the CVM or the VMC require special accountability procedures to ensure that the animal receives proper care, that it is used for the purpose intended, and that all charges for care are identified. Animals donated and accepted are classified into two categories.  Accountability for each category is separate.

  • Clinical: Accountability for animals accepted as clinical teaching cases for various clerkships is the responsibility of the VMC. These animals are housed in the VMC facilities, have a medical record and are carried on the daily census. The procedures required for receipt, disposition and documentation are outlined in detail in sections below.
  • Non-clinical: Animals accepted for research or academic teaching purposes fall under the jurisdiction of the Animal Welfare Act. As such, animals accepted must be in accordance with the policies and standards established by the Institution Animal Care Use Committee, (IACUC). Any animal donated for research or teaching purposes must be housed in a USDA registered facility. Documentation required by IACUC is in addition to that required by this policy.

These procedures for the receipt of donated animals must be followed before an animal is accepted. The Donation Release Form, VMC-24B will be used to document all donations. All approvals must have printed names and signatures. Either the clinical service of the VMC or a CVM faculty member must assume responsibility for all subsequent costs.

For animals donated to the VMC for teaching purposes, the Service Chief assumes responsibility for the animal and assures this by signing the donation release form that the medical record number listed is correct, and that the Assistant Director, Medical Health and Administration (Operations) will be notified of the disposition of the animal.

For animals accepted in a non-clinical status for research, the responsible faculty member accepts responsibility for the animal and assures by signing the donation release form that all arrangements have been made to comply with IACUC guidelines.

The appropriate Chief of Staff approves acceptance of the donation only after all required information and other signatures have been entered on the form. The Assistant Director, Medical Health and Administration for Operations (A Dir, MHA(O)) will send each donor a letter acknowledging the gift. The letter will accurately identify the donated animal and the date accepted. It is the donor’s responsibility to establish the donated animal’s fair market value. The Assistant Director, MHA(O) will maintain a file on each donated animal.

It is the responsibility of the accepting faculty member and the clinical service chief to know the location of each donated animal under their care. Exceptions to the procedures are permitted in the case of donations for medical contingencies, as determined by the attending clinician.

Disposition of Donated Animals: Donated animals must be suffering from a medical condition for which it is not possible to provide treatment. Animals that are donated to the UFVMC will be either euthanized or assigned to a research project, and then euthanized. In rare instances, we are able to locate an alternate home rather than euthanizing the animal.