CSU LETTER
Dear students and colleagues:

We write to address a troubling issue that has drawn attention in our college, and is gaining attention in the nation and around the world.

Many of us are aware of the deeply disturbing news involving a Colorado State University veterinary graduate who has worked in Brenham, Texas, and appears to have posted on Facebook a very distressing photograph and boastful comments about killing a cat with a bow and arrow. In the course of one day, the post and outraged response have blown up through social media and as a news story in traditional media outlets.

At Colorado State, we join the veterinary clinic that earlier employed the individual, the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, and countless others who strongly decry the grotesque actions and comments displayed in that post. We trust that the Austin County Sheriff’s Office will continue its investigation of the case, and that it will be appropriately adjudicated through both the law-enforcement system and the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.

We also wish to express our support for you, as students and veterinary professionals who joined this field with integrity and concern for animal welfare. Each day, you uphold our shared values as people who profoundly care about the health and wellbeing of living creatures. You work with determination, knowledge and compassion to improve animal welfare. Our students and our many graduates, with support and guidance from dedicated faculty and staff, achieve great things each day; you are committed to learning and discovery because you want to embody principles that form the foundation of veterinary medicine.

These principles are encapsulated in the Veterinarian’s Oath below – an oath that each of us takes upon graduation from veterinary school. It is a promise to ourselves and society. A promise that we hold dear.

Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health and welfare, the prevention and relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.

I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.

I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence.

We hope these words and principles will help guide us in our personal and professional lives. The public holds our profession in high regard and entrusts us to practice excellent medicine and
to demonstrate compassionate care for the benefit of animals and the people who love them.

Thank you for all you do to make our college a place of meaningful learning and concern for others.

Best regards,

Dr. Mark Stetter, Dean
Dr. Melinda Frye, Associate Dean for Veterinary Academic and Student Affairs
College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Colorado State University