We Buy It Right - From the Source

Buying vaccines directly from manufacturers and trusted sources is the best way to ensure they are handled with the utmost care from the start. These leading manufacturers' businesses literally rely on vaccines being received in good condition. Simply put: they’ve got temperature-controlled shipping down to a science.

After 80+ years in the animal health industry, we’ve developed solid relationships with the most significant vaccine manufacturers – Zoetis, Merck, Elanco, and Boehringer Ingelheim – who trust us to handle their products correctly. After the manufacturers ship vaccines to us, we ship them out directly to you with no other stops along the supply chain. It’s a two-step process. We’ve all heard the stories about stores that may not have the best handling processes in place to ensure these products remain effective when they get to you. So the next time you buy vaccines, ask your store how many stops that product makes between your hands and the manufacturer because it’s important to know how deep your source is in the supply chain. Vaccines must be stored and handled correctly at EVERY stop if they are to be effective for your animals, and the more stops they make, the more opportunity there is for error.

We Receive it Right - Handled with Care

Once vaccines arrive at our dock, it’s up to us to receive and store them properly. That starts with knowing exactly when a vaccine shipment is on the way so we’re ready when it arrives. In fact, it’s given top priority in our receiving department. As soon as the pallet coolers get unloaded from the truck, we check the product temperatures to ensure they are cool to the touch. If there is any question about the products we receive, we engage a manager for observation. Otherwise, we transport the pallets just 50 yards away from the dock and directly into our walk-in cooler for storage.  

We Store it Right - Keep It Cold

PBS Animal Health has a 2000 square foot walk-in cooler that contains over 500 different types and sizes of vaccines to serve our customers. We have a dedicated backup generator for our cooler in the event our facility loses power. It’s also equipped with temperature monitoring so if the cooler temp ever gets too high or too low, the alarm service calls us.

We Fulfill it Right - Our Picking & Packing Process

PBS Animal Health fulfillment center team members receive specific vaccine handling training to learn the entire process for picking and packing vaccines and other temperature-controlled products. When it’s time to ship vaccines out to customers, we take several precautions to fulfill them right.      

1. We pick vaccine orders from the cooler and place them into insulated foil bags with ice packs so they stay cool until packed.
2. At shipping time, our team members select the most appropriate insulated containers. The $5.95 “cooler fee” added to every order covers these special containers that protect products from both freezing in the winter months and overheating in the summer months. 
3. UPS provides notifications for any adverse weather or possible shipment delays. We monitor these alerts and add extra ice if shipping to an area with higher local temperatures. We also may hold orders for areas with extreme temperatures to prevent vaccines potentially arriving warm or frozen. We will always notify our customers when this happens so you can plan accordingly. 
4. Some companies make you pay for extra ice – but not PBS Animal Health. We simply use the appropriate amount of ice packs needed to last the entire journey to customers, no matter how far away they are.

In the event you receive a shipment that is damaged there is no need to worry. Call our Customer Care team and we’ll make it right!

We Ship It Right - Smart Shipping Selection

When we promise to ship it right, sometimes that means not shipping it right away. While we do expedite vaccine orders, we automatically hold those that arrive on Thursdays and Fridays if they require more than a two-day transit. Shipping on Monday ensures vaccine viability and helps products remain cool by avoiding getting stuck en route over the weekend. With that in mind, we recommend ordering temperature-sensitive Items as early in the week as possible to facilitate delivery before the weekend.

Know that the PBS Animal Health website automatically presents to you the right option for shipping when a temp-controlled product is involved. If the site recognizes that you’re in Ohio, it selects next-day ground shipping, but if you’re on the west coast and ordering on Wednesday, it offers next-day or second-day air. We NEVER let a customer pick a shipping method that might risk the efficacy of their vaccine.  

Remember to see if you qualify for free shipping on your vaccine order!