In 1995–1996, the Bangladesh government established two veterinary colleges in Sylhet and Chittagong. Later, two more veterinary colleges were established at Dinajpur and Barisal. The initial name of the Veterinary College in Chittagong was Chittagong Government Veterinary College, abbreviated as CGVC. The institute started its journey in January 1997 as a college under the University of Chittagong with 50 students. The University of Chittagong transformed the college into a separate faculty with the permission of the University Grants Commission for the large syllabus of the college. At that time there was no agricultural university or veterinary university in the whole of Chittagong. As a result, there was a strong demand to transform CGVC into a separate university. Various journalists and academics in Chittagong agree with this demand. This demand took the form of a movement. The movement was led by Yusuf Chowdhury, a social worker from Chittagong and chairman of the daily Purbakon. For his contribution, a building in CVASU was named as Yusuf Chowdhury building. As a result of this movement, in 2005 the Prime Minister's Office ordered the transformation of CGVC into a university. Following this, the then Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia inaugurated it on 2 February 2006, as Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. It was later launched on 7 August 2006, through an ordinance. At first the university only started its journey with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. At present, the university conducts its academic activities with a total of three faculties, including two more faculties, namely Food Science and Technology and Fisheries.