The Western Slope Laboratory is a branch of the CSU VDL, whose mission is to provide relevant, timely, and accurate animal disease diagnostic services to the Western Slope of Colorado and surrounding areas.The laboratory plays an integral role in ensuring the safety of food production, diagnosing zoonotic disease, and supporting the management, care and prevention of diseases in animals.

While the laboratory is greatly involved in livestock diagnostics, it also serves companion animal owners, veterinarians, and other animal services such as Parks and Wildlife, law enforcement, and Animal Control in disease investigation and diagnosis.

We offer some of the same tests as our main laboratory, with an emphasis on locally pertinent diagnostics. Our main services include:

• Necropsy examination to assess cause of death
• Molecular diagnostics for Tritrichomonas foetus and Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV)
• Brucella ovis ELISA (following NVSL protocol)
• Equine Infectious Anemia (Coggin’s testing) AGID and ELISA
• BVDV, small ruminant lentivirus (OPP/CAE), & ruminant pregnancy ELISA
• Other parasitology, microbiology, clinical pathology, and serology testing
• Free overnight shipping of samples submitted for testing at the main laboratory and RMRAHL

Dr. Raye Walck, the Western Slope VDL Director, serves as a local contact and advocate for clients whether testing is performed locally or forwarded to the main laboratory in Fort Collins.

Part of our mission is to serve as an educational outreach to our community, so please call or stop by to visit our committed staff. We are located in Grand Junction, Colorado, on 29 Road, just south of the railroad overpass. Samples may be submitted in person or by mail, UPS, FedEx, or local delivery (Kangaroo Express).