2025 Event Info

The ACVO and our participating veterinary ophthalmologists, will again host this event around the world in 2025. More information regarding the 2025 event will be provided on the ACVOEyeExam.org website and on our social media pages, as they become available.

Registrations will be open April 1st - 30th only, with the event occurring throughout the month of May.

We are grateful to our ACVO Diplomate Members who choose to volunteer their time, staff and resources to support the event. And special thanks for our name-sake sponsor, Epicur Pharma, for their generous support of this event.

More information can be found on the ACVOEyeExam.org website.

The ACVO/Epicur National Service Animal Eye Exam is a philanthropic event that provides free, ocular screening eye exams to qualified Service and Working Animals. These exams are provided by those members of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists who choose to participate and volunteer their time and resources. Annually, registration takes place the month of April and the exams take place the month of May. In fourteen years our ophthalmologists have donated nearly 100,000 exams!

Thanks to Epicur Pharma for their amazing sponsor support for this program, and the incredible sponsor support of many more groups and non-profits each year.

The Companion Animal Eye Registry (CAER) program was developed by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (ACVO) to provide a way for breeders to screen dogs for inherited eye diseases. The ACVO's recommendations regarding inherited eye diseases are guided by the expertise of our board-certified veterinary ophthalmologists, who volunteer to serve on the ACVO Genetics Committee. In 2013, the ACVO entered into a management agreement with the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) to begin data management and support of the ACVO's 20-year program (previously referred to as the ACVO CERF exams). The OFA provided an established database that was unquestionably the most complete resource for canine health screening results in the world (orthopedic). The alignment between OFA and ACVO was natural, and the OFA offered to develop, at its own expense, an updated digital system for use by our ophthalmologists and animal owners. The ACVO Genetics Committee researches the data obtained through all ACVO CAER examinations, both passes and failures, to help update their publication, the "ACVO Blue Book." The ACVO Blue Book combines data results and breeder recommendations to provide guidelines for ACVO Diplomates performing ACVO CAER examinations and breeders.

The ACVO's CAER examinations provide responsible breeders with information to help them make more informed breeding decisions in an effort to reduce the incidence of inherited diseases. The OFA arranges for animals that pass the CAER examination to have that information submitted to the American Kennel Club.

The ACVO and the OFA mutually agreed to return a percentage of the CAER examination registration fees submitted through the OFA to the ACVO Vision for Animals Foundation. These funds support research leading to the elimination of ocular diseases causing vision loss and suffering in animals. Since 2013, more than $350,000 has been donated from this percentage of fees.

Breeders should refer directly to the OFA website for questions.

Use the 'Help My Pet's Eyes' link above to locate a participating veterinary ophthalmologist or contact the OFA with questions.