Planned UC Davis small animal hospital gets $75M donation, vet school’s 2nd-biggest
A new small animal hospital is coming to UC Davis, and a new donation will help fund the facility.
The university announced the $75 million donation on Thursday, thanking Bay Area donors Kathy Chiao and Kenneth Hao, who have a dog named King King. It is the second-largest individual gift ever made to the veterinary school. The veterinary school’s largest donation was a $120 million gift in January from philanthropists Joan and Sanford I. Weill, for whom the school will now be named.
Chiao and Hao’s donation will name the school’s small animal hospital and provide scholarships, animal-human translational medicine and programs for those who cannot afford veterinary care, according to a university news release.
“This is a pivotal time to expand support for UC Davis and its extraordinary veterinarians — true everyday heroes,” Chiao and Hao wrote in a statement. “We deeply value the advancement of healthcare for every type of animal. We also believe research in veterinary medicine and human life sciences will be increasingly interconnected and mutually reinforcing.”
The new small animal hospital is slated to open in 2030, according to UC Davis. It is part of the institution’s $750 million Veterinary Medical Complex expansion.
About 50,000 animals receive treatment at UC Davis’ current William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital per year. The new small animal hospital can help the school accommodate 25,000 additional animals of various types.
“Our new hospital will serve even more animals and our students will graduate with the freedom of choice in their paths and go on to help our world,” UC Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine Dean Dr. Mark D. Stetter wrote in a statement.
The Veterinary Medical Complex is expected to include a veterinary education pavilion, primary care hospital, small animal hospital, large animal hospital, veterinary cancer center, raptor center facilities and a spay and neuter clinic, according to the project’s website.
