UF veterinarian receives national award for hoof care course

an Shearer, D.V.M., a University of Florida veterinarian who developed an innovative, bilingual program to train dairy workers how to better detect and treat hoof problems in cows, has received the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s top award for outstanding contributions to agriculture and animal health.

Shearer was selected to receive the USDA’s Secretary of Agriculture Honor Award for initiating the Master Hoof Care Program, an effort that began at UF’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. More than 400 farm health technicians, private claw trimmers and veterinarians from all over the world have taken the course — offered in both English and Spanish — since then.

With nearly a third of the nation’s dairy cows likely to develop some form of lameness, early identification and treatment of foot problems has become a major objective for Florida’s $400 million industry.

“Lameness is a complex disease problem,” Shearer said. “In the past, some dairy owners would treat these cows indiscriminately with antibiotics, hoping for improvement, while waiting for a claw trimmer or veterinarian to examine the animal and determine the cause of the problem. Our objective is to provide owners, managers and health-care technicians with a better understanding of this disease so that appropriate treatment may be instituted earlier, thereby reducing discomfort for the animal and improving prospects for recovery.”