The Galesburg Animal Disease Laboratory will be closing.Illinois Department of Agriculture spokesperson Rebecca Clark says that after two key retirements at the lab, certain services were transferred to other facilities as to not delay results reporting.
IDOA has been working to fill a veterinary pathologist position at the lab to no avail.
Even after a nationwide search they found no qualified candidates
Services the lab performs include animal disease testing and meat inspection.
Galesburg’s animal disease lab was the last open in Illinois after the one in Centralia was shuttered in 2012 for cost-saving purposes.
When then-Gov. Pat Quinn took that action, all of the state’s testing services were transferred to the Galesburg lab.
The Galesburg lab offered a range of services to local vets and animal owners in addition to testing for the government, universities and research institutions.
The lab will be closed in late April after over four decades of operating.
