The Madras Veterinary College Teaching Hospital at Vepery, near Chennai Central, treats more than one lakh animal cases a year, and registering a pet there costs ₹100, valid for seven days. The hospital belongs to TANUVAS, the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, which was established on 20 September 1989 and is headquartered at Madhavaram Milk Colony.
The college itself is much older. It opened on 1 October 1903 at Dobbin Hall, Vepery, with 20 students. This guide covers the hospital’s timings and fees, the courses and seats for 2026-27, and the university’s labs that serve the public.
Vepery hospital: timings, fees, specialist units
According to the MVC clinics page:
- Hours: Monday to Friday, 8 am to 1 pm; Saturdays, Sundays and government holidays, 8 am to 11.30 am.
- Registration: ₹100 for a small animal and ₹20 for a large animal, each valid for seven days.
- CT scan: ₹2,000 to ₹3,000, depending on contrast and reporting.
- Emergency surgery: ₹2,500.
- Casualty after office hours: 044-25381509, as listed in the citizen’s charter. College office: 044-25381506.
Small and large animals each have medicine, surgery and obstetrics units. Referral units cover cardiology, nephrology, dermatology, critical care, endoscopy, vaccination, an infectious disease unit with a blood bank, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, soft tissue surgery, radiology and CT, an infertility clinic, ultrasound, and a section for birds and exotic pets. An ambulance can bring large animals from across the city. For pets in north Chennai, TANUVAS also runs a Peripheral Veterinary Hospital at Madhavaram, phone 044-25559046.
These fees are for registration and specific procedures; medicines and other tests may cost extra. For any serious illness, ask the duty vet about likely costs.
From Dobbin Hall to a university
The college milestones mark several firsts:
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1903 | College opens at Dobbin Hall, Vepery, using SPCA hospital facilities |
| 1936 | B.V.Sc. degree starts, the first in India |
| 1958 | M.V.Sc. launched |
| 1976 | Becomes a constituent college of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University |
| 1989 | TANUVAS established (20 September) |
| 2003 | Centenary year |
| 2025 | PG Diploma in Food Toxicology and Safety Management starts |
The Vepery campus covers nearly 6 hectares, and the college page lists 59 professors, 3 associate professors and 31 assistant professors.
Seats for 2026-27
TANUVAS’s 2026-27 admission notice listed 660 B.V.Sc. and A.H. seats across seven colleges, with 120 at Madras Veterinary College. Fifteen per cent of B.V.Sc. seats go to candidates allotted by the Veterinary Council of India. In Chennai, the College of Food and Dairy Technology at Koduveli offers 60 B.Tech Food Technology and 40 B.Tech Dairy Technology seats.
Applications ran online from 25 May to 17 June 2026. The provisional rank list came out on 30 July 2026, and the top five B.V.Sc. candidates all scored 200 out of 200, DT Next reported. Check adm.tanuvas.ac.in for counselling rounds, seat allotment results and any vacancies.
Labs and services for farmers and pet owners
The citizen’s charter lists diagnostic labs at Madhavaram that the public can approach, including the Central University Laboratory (044-25551581), the leptospirosis laboratory (044-25559306), relevant during the monsoon, and a viral vaccine laboratory. The university also runs training centres and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, such as Kattupakkam (044-27452371), and has posted a northeast monsoon livestock advisory for 2026 on its home page.
More milestones and the wider university
Veterinary teaching in Madras began even before the college. Veterinary medicine was taught to agriculture diploma students at Saidapet from 1878, and a veterinary diploma started there in 1893. The first diploma holders graduated from Vepery in 1906. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru attended the college’s Golden Jubilee in 1955, and President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy its Platinum Jubilee in 1981. The college gained ICAR accreditation in 2001 and ISO 9001 certification in 2004, and added postgraduate diplomas in companion animal practice in 2006 and wild animal disease management in 2007.
Today TANUVAS has nine constituent colleges, including veterinary colleges at Namakkal, Tirunelveli, Orathanadu, Salem, Theni and Udumalpet, the Koduveli food and dairy college and a poultry college at Hosur. The university has warned on its home page about fake recruitment notices and says only announcements on its official website are valid. Livestock farmers can find the 2026-27 list of farmer training titles, a clinical training calendar for 2026 and an El Nino impact advisory on the same page, and the university’s distance education courses cover dairy, goat and poultry farming.
Quick answers
What are the Vepery veterinary hospital timings?
8 am to 1 pm on weekdays, and 8 am to 11.30 am on weekends and holidays.
How much does registration cost?
₹100 for a pet or other small animal, ₹20 for cattle and other large animals, valid seven days.
Is there night emergency care?
The charter lists an after-hours casualty number, 044-25381509. Call before travelling.
How many seats does MVC Chennai have?
120 B.V.Sc. and A.H. seats in 2026-27.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- Citizen’s Charter (Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University)
- Madras Veterinary College milestones (TANUVAS)
- Madras Veterinary College introduction (TANUVAS)
- MVC Teaching Hospital clinics (TANUVAS)
- UG admission press notification 2026-27 (TANUVAS)
- TANUVAS home page (TANUVAS)
- TANUVAS releases veterinary rank list (DT Next)
