Washington State Department of Agriculture and Washington State University are pairing up for the development of a Carcass Management Training program. Interim state veterinarian, Dr. Amber Itle, said they received nearly $195,000 from APHIS to launch the effort.

"The proposed program focuses on teaching carcass composting methods, providing compost technical information and the skills and tools that we need to manage large volumes of carcass mortalities.”

The training, she notes, will include demonstrations on mortality management including detailed information on above ground burial and grinding equipment use. Itle, said the training is an effort to improve response and preparedness capabilities around mortality management in the state.

"The importance for leaning into this is so that we can be better prepared for a mass mortality event so the more folks we can get trained through the program would be to create huge group of people that can be subject matter experts to lead efforts to safely manage carcasses.”

State and federal animal health officials, local emergency managers, veterinarians, extension agents, and others in the Ag sector are all invited to participate in the upcoming training opportunity.

Click Here to learn more about the ‘Carcass Management Preparedness: Train the Trainer Programs for Animal Agriculture Sector Responders in the Northwest.'

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