Along with OSU employees Jessica Russell, Emily Cooper, Dr. Rosslyn Biggs, Dr. Jerry Ritchey, Bailee Schiefelbein, Brittanie Peake, Dr. Jeff Studer and Dr. Carlos Risco, Dr. Jerry Saliki talks with Rep. Eddy Dempsey about the changes made at OADDL to handle COVID-19 sample testing during the beginning of the pandemic. During a recent visit to OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Rep. Dempsey toured the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory hearing about the many services OADDL provides to the agricultural community and veterinarians.

Rep. Dempsey Visits OSU Veterinary College

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Media Contact: Derinda Blakeney, APR | OSU College of Veterinary Medicine | 405-744-6740 | derinda@okstate.edu

State Representative Eddy Dempsey (R-Valliant) recently visited Oklahoma State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Rep. Dempsey requested a tour following a presentation at the Capitol about the college and rural veterinary needs in Oklahoma made by Dr. Carlos Risco, dean of the veterinary college. Dempsey is an avid supporter of rural issues and understands the value of veterinary medicine to both human and animal health.

Dr. Reed Holyoak, professor and board-certified theriogenologist, explains to Rep. Eddy Dempsey the procedure of mare oocyte aspiration being performed at Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Ranch. The ranch specializes in equine and bovine breeding management and advanced reproduction services.

Dempsey’s first stop was the college’s ranch which specializes in equine and bovine breeding and reproduction services. The ranch is equipped to handle all aspects of large animal reproduction, both routine breeding work and more advanced techniques such as transvaginal oocyte aspiration, semen collection, evaluation and shipment, breeding soundness evaluation, embryo flushing and transfer and more.

Drs. Carlos Risco and Rosslyn Biggs share information with Rep. Eddy Dempsey on the Shelter Medicine Program, which serves more than 30 animal shelters in Oklahoma providing spay/neuter surgeries to make the shelters’ dogs and cats more adoptable to forever homes. Rep. Dempsey recently toured OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, specifically the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and the college’s Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.

Dr. Jeff Studer, director of the college’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, took Dempsey through the different services available to Oklahomans including the food animal medicine and surgery service, equine internal medicine and surgery service and the Shelter Medicine Program that partners with more than 30 animal shelters in Oklahoma to spay/neuter the shelters’ dogs and cats making them more readily adoptable.

Left to right: Drs. Jerry Ritchey, Rosslyn Biggs, and Carlos Risco, Rep. Eddy Dempsey and Drs. Meredyth Jones and Jeff Studer. Rep. Dempsey visited the food animal section of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital during a recent tour of Oklahoma’s only College of Veterinary Medicine.

The final stop on Dempsey’s tour was the college’s Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Dr. Jerry Saliki, director of OADDL, explained the many diagnostic services the lab provides to ranchers and producers as well as veterinarians.

OADDL scans for diseases that could threaten the country’s food supply such as foot and mouth disease. Saliki showed Dempsey where the COVID-19 human sample testing took place and explained the many changes OADDL made to provide testing while maintaining the lab’s normal animal testing during the beginning of the pandemic.

“We enjoyed hosting Rep. Dempsey,” Risco said. “We appreciate his interest in the college’s activities in teaching, research and outreach.”