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EXHIBIT 31.1

Certification of
Chief Executive Officer
of VCA Antech, Inc.

I, Robert L. Antin, certify that:



|1. |  | I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of VCA Antech, Inc.;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
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|  
|2. |  | Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this quarterly report;
|  
|3. |  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash
flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
quarterly report;                   
|  
|4. |  | The registrants other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and we
have:                                                                                                     



| | a. |  | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure
that material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within
those entities, particularly during the period in which this
quarterly report is being prepared;
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|
| | b. |  | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrants disclosure
controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the
filing date of this quarterly report (the Evaluation Date); and                                                                                                  
|
| | c. |  | Presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our
evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;                                                                                                                        



|5. |  | The registrants other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation, to the registrants auditors and the audit
committee of registrants board of directors (or persons performing the
equivalent functions):
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| | a. |  | All significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
internal controls which could adversely affect the registrants
ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data and
have identified for the registrants auditors any material
weaknesses in internal controls; and
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|
| | b. |  | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
or other employees who have a significant role in the registrants
internal controls; and                                                                                                                                        



|6. |  | The registrants other certifying officers and I have indicated in this
quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes in internal
controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal
controls subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including
any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and
material weaknesses.
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Date: August 11, 2003

|    |  |                        
|--- |  | -----------------------
|By: |  | /s/ Robert L. Antin    
|    |  |                        
|    |  | Robert L. Antin        
|    |  | Chief Executive Officer

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