Importance laid to the animals and animal resources in the pre-historic period, the fundamental national goal and priority of university education & research as envisaged by the illustrious builders of modern India and eminent educationists like Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Dr. Kothari and the strong conviction of the then Vice President of India Shri K. R. Narayanan as expressed on the Centenary Celebration Platform of the Bengal Veterinary College on January 13, 1993 constituted the background inspiration for the genesis of the West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences (WBUAFS). Creation of this university in 1995, in fact, centered around the glorious Bengal Veterinary College founded in 1892 as the second oldest of its kind in India and previously constituted as a faculty of the Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV) since 1974.

"Crop productivity has reached its plateau, but the productivity potential of the animal resources is yet to be fully exploited" — when this fact came into light the government of West Bengal decided to put greater efforts in improvement of livestock resources and their productivity through intensification of research activities and manpower development in the concerned fields. For this purpose the government felt the need for establishment of separate university encompassing Veterinary & Animal sciences, Dairy Science and Fishery Science. A Working Group comprising the eminent persons from concerned fields was constituted by the Animal Resources Development Department of the Govt. of West Bengal in January 1993 for discussing the modalities and to prepare the recommendations for establishment of a separate university. As per the recommendations of the Working Group, the state government vide the West Bengal University of Animal & Fishery Sciences Act, 1995 (West Ben. Act VI of 1995) established this university after bifurcating the BCKV and the WBUAFS came into being on January 02, 1995 with three constituent faculties and its headquarters at Kolkata. Subsequently, the Governor, by virtue of the power conferred on him through the Act, approved and published the First Statutes of the university on April 22, 1998.