College of Veterinary Medicine to Host New York Times Bestselling Author

The College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at Western University of Health

Sciences is proud to host bestselling author, Dr. Temple Grandin, PhD, at

the CVM White Coat Ceremony, which is a part of the campus’ 2006 Welcome

Week.

The white coat ceremony is a tradition that marks entrance into medical

school and higher education programs centered in health care. The

ceremony addresses the issue of health care ethics and the responsibility

that accompanies practice in the various health care professions. This

year, the College of Veterinary Medicine will have the assistance of Dr.

Temple Grandin to share the challenges and questions that practicing

Veterinarians face today.

Dr. Grandin, an autistic, is an Associate Professor at Colorado State

University, and a livestock consultant. She has designed the animal

handling facilities, through which more than half the animals slaughtered

for food in North America, are processed. These facilities are also

located in Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries.

In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a center track

restrainer system that she designed for meat plants. The curved chute and

race systems, which she has designed for cattle, are used worldwide and

her writings on the flight zone and other principles of grazing animal

behavior have helped many people to reduce stress on their animals during

handling.

She has also created an objective scoring system for assessing handling

of cattle and pigs at meat plants. This scoring system is being used by

many large corporations to improve animal welfare. Other areas of

research include: cattle temperament, environmental enrichment for pigs,

reducing dark cutters and bruises, bull fertility, training procedures,

and effective stunning methods for cattle and pigs at meat plants.

Dr. Grandin obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College and her M.S. in

Animal Science at Arizona State University. She received her PhD in

Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. She has appeared

on numerous television shows and radio broadcasts and is widely sought

out for her expertise. Additionally, Dr. Grandin has also authored over

300 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals on

animal handling, welfare, and facility design. She is the author

of “”Thinking in Pictures””, “”Livestock Handling and Transport,””

and “”Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals.”” Her book “”Animals in

Translation”” is a New York Times’ best-seller.

The CVM White Coat Ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, August 12, 2006,

at 10:30 a.m. in the Bridges Hall of Music, located at 150 East Fourth

Street, Claremont.