The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory offers diagnostic services to veterinarians and owners of livestock, zoo animals, and companion animals in the form of postmortem examinations, clinical pathology, surgical biopsy interpretations, bacteriology, endocrinology, nutrition, parasitology, immunodiagnostics, toxicology, and virology.

Special features of the 152,000-gross-square-foot facility include large biosafety-level 3 animal necropsy and microbiology spaces, as well as a fish diagnostics center.

The Diagnostic Laboratory also has office and laboratory space devoted to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Research and Technology Section and office space for the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

The Diagnostic Laboratory employs about 120 professional, technical, and support staff that yearly process over 160,000 diagnostic submissions and perform more than 1.2 million diagnostic tests.

In addition to providing full-service diagnostic testing for Michigan, the Diagnostic Laboratory also serves as a learning center for students in the College of Veterinary Medicine and other colleges at Michigan State University. It has laboratory and classroom space that is used for teaching veterinary students, providing postgraduate educational and research opportunities, training pathology residents, and conducting continuing education programs.

The Diagnostic Laboratory is fully accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.