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Seeking to reduce the shortage of large animal veterinarians in the U.S., the Joseph W. Tripiano Charitable Fund has awarded $1 million to Cal Poly’s new Charles and Claire Jacobson Animal Health Center, with the Community Foundation for San Benito County serving as facilitator.
Trustees of the fund said Tripiano loved animals, particularly horses, calling it a perfect donation to honor his memory and values.
“Joe loved to take care of animals, and in particular, old horses, so that they weren’t abused or sold to the wrong people,” Tripiano Fund trustee Thomas Scott said. “He had a passion about taking care of animals, and it took us quite a long time to find a way to honor that.”
Tripiano retired at 32 to pursue ranching fulltime in Hollister. He became a devoted horseman and steward of the land, according to a news release from the Community Foundation for San Benito County.
He also became well known for his versatility in different equestrian disciplines such as Western trail, English, dressage, jumping, polo and cutting.
As trustees of Tripiano’s charitable fund, Thomas Scott and Frank Tripiano, who is Joseph Tripiano’s brother, searched for an organization or veterinary clinic specializing in horses and other large animals as a way to carry on Joseph Tripano’s legacy and love for animals.
However, they said the process was more difficult than they expected.
“We thought there must be some big animal care places that would be happy to have a fund set up, but it wasn’t easy to find at all,” Scott said.
After Tripiano’s passing in 2019, the trustees became connected to the Community Foundation for San Benito County through Tripiano’s lawyer. According to Frank Tripiano, they searched for somewhere to place the funds for three or four years.
They first began by funding several improvements to Bolado Park, where the annual Hollister rodeo is held and where Joseph Tripiano has the arena named after him.
This opportunity, however, Scott said, came up in the last eight months. The trustees were undecided between funding the facility or funding student scholarships, determined that funding an animal health center would have a greater long-term impact, especially considering the increasing shortage in large animal vets around the country.
According to a 2025 USDA report, there are 243 rural veterinary shortage areas among 46 states.
Scott said the reason is that many people who want to go into large animal care don’t always anticipate the work it takes.
“A lot of people that start off wanting to do large animal care will study,” he said, “but then when they actually have to go get a job they realize that the day-to-day responsibilities for doing it with large animals require much more difficult hours. And a lot of times you have to get in your truck and go drive somewhere as opposed to being in an office and having people come to you.”
In rural communities like San Benito County, the lack of available care can mean having to make certain decisions about an animal.
“Right now, the decision is they may not be able to save their animal and so they euthanize them,” Frank Tripiano said.
He spoke about how after his brother’s death, two of his horses were left behind and were entrusted to caregivers that allowed them to live several more years before they were eventually euthanized.
“But eventually,” he said, “they needed the kind of care that just wasn’t available and so they were put down.”
It’s for reasons like these that Frank Tripiano and Scott said they felt making the donation to Cal Poly was important. They said they hope that the level of education and training Cal Poly offers will encourage more students to become large animal vets.
“I think if they come to Cal Poly and they see how well it can be done, maybe it’ll help,” Scott said.
The donation will fund equipment for students to engage in the hands-on learning that Cal Poly is known for. This includes video endoscopy units, digital radiographic systems and hydraulic tables for forensic examinations, according to a press release from the Community Foundation for San Benito County.
The BenitoLink Internship Program is a paid, skill-building program that prepares local youth for a professional career. This program is supported by Monterey Peninsula Foundation AT&T Golf Tour and Taylor Farms.
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