2020 Complete Herdsman Training Program
Greenbelt Veterinary Services will be running our yearly Complete Herdsman Training Program again this fall. This years dates are October 21st through 30th. Look on our events page to find the details of each class and which class will be held on each day.
As COVID-19 has modified many things in all of our lives, we will be changing our courses to ensure that we can keep everyone safe. Our in-class sessions will have a restricted class size to ensure physical distancing can be maintained, masks will be available for those who wish to wear them, and all surfaces will be sanitized appropriately. Our practical sessions will also have modified class sizes depending on the space available and the physical distancing required for each specific course. Lastly, we will not be providing our typical buffet style lunches for the sessions that are full day.
Contact our office at 604-792-1501 or office@greenbeltvet.com to sign up or to get more information.
COVID-19 Update
Greenbelt Veterinary Services would like to reaffirm to our clientele that during this new temporary reality, your animals will continue to be taken care of in the same way that they always have been. If you ever need to have a veterinarian come out to see your animal, or just want advice from one of us, call 604-792-1501 day or night and a veterinarian will be made available to you. We are continuing to provide farm service as usual.
However, because of COVID-19, we are making some changes in how we do things. As of Thursday, March 19th we will be restricting public access inside the clinic. The clinic is open during regular business hours (Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm) but we ask you not to enter our front door.
If you need to pick up medication or supplies, please call the clinic at 604-792-1501 and we will assemble whatever you require. We’ll invoice your account or you can pay by phone with credit card, or through e-transfer. Completed orders will be placed outside on the sidewalk for pickup.
If you have a sample to drop off for testing, please let us know. The sample can be left outside the front door.
We appreciate your business and understanding as we adapt to this new and evolving situation.
Greenbelt Veterinary Services Ltd. is a farm animal practice that has provided reliable veterinary care to the Fraser Valley since 1973. We started as McFee Veterinary Clinic, a single veterinarian practice run by Ron McFee, before forming Greenbelt Veterinary Services in 1982.
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We have grown from that single doctor to our current team of nine veterinarians, offering health services in dairy production and embryo transfer, swine production, and to an extensive list of farm animals including horses, beef cattle, sheep, goats, alpacas, and llamas.
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Our mission is to provide the food production/equine/hobby animal community with exceptional preventative and emergency health care. Through co-operative and professional leadership, we strive to offer innovative animal health education, and production and research services at competitive prices.
African Swine Fever
African Swine Fever (ASF) has been in the news recently due to its increased spread in China, as well as other areas of Asia and Europe. Most people in Canada probably don’t know very much about this disease, even if they have some pigs of their own. This is likely because Canada does not currently have ASF, but that does not mean we are not at risk.
African Swine Fever is a very important disease of pigs across the globe. It is highly contagious, causes severe disease and death, affects pigs of all breeds and ages, and persists for a long time in the environment, carcasses, and pork products. ASF cannot infect humans through direct contact with pigs, nor from eating their meat, but humans are a source of transmission from pig to pig and farm to farm on themselves, their clothes/footwear/vehicles, and in what they feed their pigs.
All people who are in contact with swine have a responsibility to prevent the spread of this disease to Canada. Three primary ways we can help avoid bringing African Swine Fever into our country are:
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Do not bring pork products onto a pig farm
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Ensure people visiting a pig farm are not a potential source of contamination
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Do not feed your pigs any meat products, or other feedstuff that may have come in contact with meat
African Swine Fever is a reportable disease in Canada, and the symptoms are very similar to any other systemic illness that a pig may get. The only way to diagnose ASF is through laboratory tests, so contact our office if you have any sick or suddenly dead pigs.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding African Swine Fever, do not hesitate to contact us at 604-792-1501 or office@greenbeltvet.com
Click here for a quick one-pager for small scale swine producers
Upcoming Events
proAction: Let’s Get It Done! – Complete Herdsman Training Program Day 4
Trimming and Treating the Lame Cow – Complete Herdsman Training Program Day 5
Milker Training Refresher – Complete Herdsman training Program Day 6
Dairy Reproduction – Complete Herdsman Training Program Day 7
Calving Management – Complete Herdsman Training Program Day 8