Proposed state budget cuts will devastate programs at Pennsylvania's only school for veterinarians, gutting crucial food safety research and jeopardizing the agricultural education of future animal caregivers, the dean said.

The worst-case scenario would lead the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine to eliminate its infectious disease research program, close its teaching dairy and lay off several dozen people, Dean Joan Hendricks said.

A $10.3 million cut is one of many painful moves lawmakers are considering as they try to close a $3.3 billion deficit. But as the nation grapples with medical issues from swine flu to salmonella-tainted peanuts, Hendricks said the potential loss reflects how veterinarians' role in public health has ''sort of disappeared from the public consciousness.''
 

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