The College, earlier known as College of Veterinary Medicine, was established in 1960, as one of the two constituent colleges of the first Agricultural University of India the U.P. Agricultural University to impart undergraduate and postgraduate education for producing competent veterinarians; to conduct basic and applied research on various aspects of livestock health, production and livestock products technology; to carryout veterinary and animal husbandry extension activities through farm advisory services, health care services, organizing animal welfare camps, livestock shows etc. and to provide expert advice in veterinary and animal husbandry matters including diagnostic services and health coverage programs.
At that time, the college had only four departments, viz. Anatomy & Histology, Physiology & Pharmacology, Pathology & Hygiene and Medicine & Surgery. The college has been renamed as College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences after merging the department of Animal Science of the College of Agriculture with the college in 2003.
Now, amongst forty-two Government Veterinary Colleges of the Country, the College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences at Pantnagar has emerged as a role model for excellence. It endeavors to transform the illustrious students into skilled veterinarians, carry out innovative research on compelling issues of local and national interest and transferring technologies from lab to the ultimate users.
The College with all its academic activities initially organized in only four departments, has now expanded to accommodate fifteen departments and three independent units including Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, Animal Biotechnology Center and Instructional Livestock Farm Complex. All the departments are manned by knowledgeable and efficient faculty members. The lecture theatres and laboratories are well furnished with state-of-the-art physical facilities and modern sophisticated equipment including atomic absorption and UV spectrophotometer, ultrasound scanner, HPLC, FPLC, large animal anaesthesia machine, ethylene oxide gas sterilizer, ELISA plate reader, autoanalyzer, ultracentrifuge, liquid nitrogen plant, etc. Every department is provided with computers and internet connectivity.
The College has also equipped with a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) as a central facility to cater to the ever-growing needs of the researchers. It is a JEOL 1011, 100 KVA machine with a resolution of 0.2 nm and magnification up to 6,00,000X. An Ice Cream Plant and Meat Processing Plant have been established in the Department of Livestock Products Technology of the college to impart entrepreneurial training to the UG and PG students.
The educational activities of the College are directed towards effective learning. Modern AV-aids are used for efficient delivery. Laboratory manuals have been developed in each course. Departmental and faculty seminars have been made regular features. Best teacher and best student awards have been implemented in order to make teaching/learning process more competitive. Besides a huge central library, the College has developed its own library stocking latest textbooks, journals and scientific and general magazines. The Veterinary Teaching Hospital operates round-the-clock. Students are engaged in clinical work even on Sundays and holidays. An Instructional Animal Farm including units on equine, ovine, caprine, canine and poultry has been established. A computer laboratory has been established to train the UG and PG students in computer handling. In addition to the B.V.Sc. & A.H. degree programme, the College offers courses for the award of M.V.Sc. degree in 19 and Ph.D. degree in 16 subjects.
The College has research strength in the areas of ethnomedicine, immunodiagnostics, embryobiotechnology, environmental toxicology and immunopathology and infections and metabolic diseases. Currently several externally funded research projects funded from national, international and private sector agencies are being run in most of the departments. An ARIS lab has been established for the retrieval of scientific information on various aspects of animal health and production. The College is committed to rural upliftment through livestock development. Kisan melas, gosthies (discussions), training for rural youth/farmers/ women, paravets and field veterinarians and cattle, dog and poultry shows are regularly organized. Consultancy to the livestock owners is provided through radio/ TV talks, telephone, extension literature, letters and personal contact. Ambulatory clinical services are provided at the farmer’s doorstep on all the working days.
The College Library has been established with a reading room at the college itself. For overall development of the students and guiding them on various aspects of life, 12 different student activity groups have been formed, each led by a senior faculty member.
The College is running the Instructional Dairy Farm (IDF) and Instructional Poultry Farm (IPF). The IDF has the motto of conservation of indigenous cows (Sahiwal and Badri) and buffaloes (Murrah), apart from the other objectives of livestock productivity in terms of breeding, feeding, management, disease control, and the practical training of students. The IDF achieved the major accomplishment in production from Murrah buffalo where buffalo recorded peak yield of 22.8 lit. of milk in a day, the highest yield reported from any government farm. The farm is determined to develop the nucleus herd of high yielding Murrah buffaloes for extending better germ plasm to the country. A new breed of goat named as ‘Pantja Goat’ and a new breed of fowl named as ” Uttara” havee been developed and registered at National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, ICAR, Karnal. Similarly, the Instructional Poultry Farm also maintained the indigenous fowl (Kadaknath). Considering the conservation of Sahiwal cows, the Instructional Dairy Farm has been awarded with National Kamdhenu Award for the year 2017 by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers welfare, Government of India.
The College has a vision to reach farmers and animal lovers in every nook and corner of the State and adjoining areas in order to educate and update them on various aspects of modern veterinary services. The goal is to improve livestock productivity and the quality of animal products. The College believes in the dictum that healthy animals help in evolving a happy society and a vibrant rural economy.
The College not only imparts formal professional education but also prepares its graduates to meet challenges in all walks of life. Various co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are regularly organized to shape multifaceted personality and inculcate the feeling of competitiveness. Activity groups including Professional competitions, Personality development and career opportunity; Literary activities, Cultural activities, Cattle show, Prevention of Cruelty to animals awareness, Activities concerning alumni, Games and sports are organized for all round development of the students. To add further dimensions, an Equestrian club and a Blue Cross Society has also been established. The alumni of this College clinch commanding positions in several national and international organizations. Publication of Alumni News Letter and organization of alumni meet under the aegis of Pantnagar Alumni Association are fructuous efforts to develop an interface between the alumni and the alma mater. The college has established 1 UK R&V SQN NCC Unit to train the students and horse health management.
Departments of the College

1. Animal Nutrition
2. Animal Genetics & Breeding
3. Livestock Production Management
4. Livestock Products Technology
5. Veterinary Anatomy
6. Veterinary & Animal Husbandry Extension Education
7. Veterinary Gynecology & Obstetrics
8. Veterinary Medicine
9. Veterinary Microbiology
10. Veterinary Parasitology
11. Veterinary Pathology
12. Veterinary Pharmacology & Toxicology
13. Veterinary Physiology & Biochemistry
14. Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology
15. Veterinary Surgery & Radiology
The Independent Units
1. Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex
2. Instructional Livestock Farm Complex*
(*Includes Instructional Dairy Farm and Instructional Poultry Farm)
Students from the college have shown excellence in all spheres. It can be realized from the fact that students of this college are found spread not only in all corners of India but around the word.