The Executive Board approved a recommendation to apply the entire $150,000 grant that the American Veterinary Medical Foundation is providing to the AVMA disaster relief program this year, solely to fund the AVMA disaster relief program.

Funding for the salary, benefits, and travel of the assistant director of emergency preparedness and response for the AVMA will not come from that source.

The grant can now be used by the Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams to supplement training, meeting, and equipment costs, without having to provide a portion of the grant to support staff.

Board members, Drs. Roger Mahr (District VI and board vice chair) and Jacky Horner (District III), submitted the recommendation as a substitute motion. The original recommendation from the Committee on Disaster and Emergency Issues asked that the board approve a $200,000 grant from the AVMA for supplemental funding of the VMATs. The board disapproved that recommendation.