Imagine waking up tomorrow and finding out your beloved pet, Buttons, has just eaten all the Halloween candy. She looks like she doesn’t feel well. You call your usual veterinarian. They tell you they can get you in a week. You call another vet. They aren’t taking new clients. You call the emergency vet, they say you can come in, but the wait is six hours and the exam alone will be $250.
Now imagine the same scenario, but this time you call your veterinarian and ask to speak to Jill, the veterinary PA you have been meeting with since you adopted Buttons as a baby. Jill knows Buttons and, since she has joined the practice, there are many more appointments available. She can see you the same day.
You bring Buttons in, and Jill greets you and reviews Buttons’ symptoms. She feels confident she knows what is troubling your furry friend, and she confers with her supervising veterinarian, who agrees on a course of action. You go home that day with a diagnosis, a plan and someone you can call immediately if anything changes. While Buttons doesn’t regret eating the candy, she is happy and impressed with the new, modernized care she got at the veterinary clinic in Colorado.
If you have a Buttons of your own and care about animal welfare, there’s an issue in this upcoming election that should have your tail wagging. Proposition 129 creates a career pathway for a veterinary professional associate, or VPA. This initiative is not merely a regulatory adjustment; it’s a Great Dane-sized stride toward elevating the standards of veterinary care and ensuring the welfare of our beloved pets.
As a member of the Dumb Friend’s League leadership, I can assure you that many of Colorado’s pets face a “ruff” reality these days. We cared for more than 26,500 animals last year at our subsidized veterinary hospital. Because we just didn’t have the capacity, we were forced to turn away thousands of suffering pets and their worried owners.
It’s worse in rural communities, where veterinary clinics can be hours away. Twenty percent of the state has little to no access to veterinary care. In total, one out of every three Colorado pet owners said they faced some sort of barrier to veterinary care.
It’s no wonder the prospect of VPAs has frontline practitioners like us purring. They will allow shelters and clinics to provide the same competent, compassionate care in more communities for a lower cost, increasing access for hundreds of thousands of Colorado pet owners.
Vet PAs are veterinary professionals modeled after physician assistants in human medicine. Just like their human counterparts, these practitioners will complete a two-year master’s program, be registered with and overseen by the state board, and must practice under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. They will be experts who have the same standards of care that are required of veterinarians.
Seems like an issue even cats and dogs can agree on, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, the fur has been flying about Proposition 129, but the actual beneficiaries of this ballot measure — Colorado pet owners — have not been included in much of the discussion.
When it became clear the Colorado veterinary trade association and its lobbyists were unwilling to discuss this issue at the legislative level, we were forced to pursue other avenues to help Colorado pets, especially after the majority of the trade association’s members agreed that a VPA would expand access to veterinary care for pets and livestock. It has since removed the survey from its website. Seems odd to oppose something that the majority of members agree would benefit Colorado pets.
Proposition 129 focuses on getting our furry family members the care they need and deserve. We can’t “keep animals safe” when so many Colorado pets can’t see a veterinarian.
Now, as we try to create better access to veterinary care, we are bringing the decision directly to the voters, pet owners, ranchers, farmers, humane societies and future VPAs who all have important voices in veterinary care. The voices of pet owners whose pets suffer because they can’t get an appointment, let alone afford it when they finally do; the shelters that are forced to accept beloved animals from families not because they don’t love them, but because it’s the only way those families can find veterinary aid; and the voters who are committed to animal welfare and public health. These stakeholders matter and can only make their voices heard at the ballot box.
By modernizing our veterinary practices, we are taking a definitive step toward a future where every pet receives the care they deserve, regardless of where they live. Vote for a healthier, happier Colorado — both for pets and the people that love them. Vote “yes” on Proposition 129.
Dr. Apryl Steele, DVM, CAWA, lives in Larkspur and is the president and CEO of the Dumb Friends League.
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