Politics and Policy

From A to V, here’s what you can expect from legislators and regulators on policy issues involving pet health care.

My company, Animal Policy Group, employs a team of four researchers who track legislation and state board or agency actions in 50 states and the District of Columbia 365 days a year. Believe it or not, last year we monitored over 15,000 pieces of legislation affecting veterinarians or pets. Most of those bills fell to […]

We have too few veterinary professionals (and dogs) and too much student debt. There is a way out.

COVID carried on a curious relationship with the veterinary industry throughout 2020 and early 2021. Much has been written about the industry’s financial strength and gains during this period, hopefully putting to rest chronic fears that pet health care is a fragile sector and susceptible to sudden downturns. The toll on human lives is a […]

The evidence shows there’s no reason for anyone to fret about veterinary virtual care. It’s safe, effective, in demand and here to stay.

When we look back on 2020, the year of COVID, three other things will jump out: With some exceptions, 2020 was a year of extraordinary growth for veterinary practices and the animal health industry. Who would have predicted that in early March, when an anxious America wondered about economic survival as the pandemic took hold? […]

The human-animal bond has brought monumental change to the veterinary industry. You can run with the pack and enjoy the riches, or you can be a slow-to-react naysayer.

Can veterinarians handle success? That’s a silly question, right? Of course, veterinarians can handle success, just like anyone else. But are you sure? Does handling success only mean applauding and cashing the checks while success unfolds around you? Or does it involve understanding the fundamentals of why success is occurring and then evaluating and implementing […]

America’s love affair with companion animals is now engrained in society. The millennial and Z generations have made sure of that.

In May 2018 I got a phone call from a nonfiction literary agent. My Manhattan brother knew Kitty Cowles and said she might call me. I was surprised, but I knew her credentials, so I also was intrigued. Her message was simple: Major New York publishers wanted a book written that told the story of […]

The newly established Veterinary Virtual Care Association will develop best practices, define standards and protocols, and do so much more.

In late April, the veterinary world awakened to a new organization: the Veterinary Virtual Care Association. VVCA hopes to do for veterinary medicine what the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has done for human health care since its founding in 1993. Today, telemedicine, telehealth and virtual care are staples of our personal health care, and to […]

The profession and industry need to support our underfunded state veterinary medical boards before they are pushed aside by politicians.

This article might surprise readers, but it needs to be written and we don’t have much time to act. A quiet crisis that’s not obvious to practitioners and industry is building within the world of state regulation of veterinary medicine. I observe it only because my Animal Policy Group works with state veterinary medical boards […]

Pet owners are lining up for services — great! — but what if we can’t meet the demand? Either way, we need to root out bad vets and figure out where we stand on CBD.

There’s something special about a new decade. The view is longer — 10 years, of course — and generational change lies at the heart of many conversations. If you doubt this, think about the veterinary profession on Jan. 1, 2010, and today, and then list the companies, practices and people no longer with us or […]

The flourishing import market poses genuine health threats. Certifying large commercial U.S. breeders could be a worthwhile solution.

Mark the summer of 2019 as when the United States finally took seriously the issue of how many dogs, mainly puppies, were being allowed into the country illegally each year and the perilous condition of their health. To understand the situation, we need to step back and understand where we’ve been. A 2015 Moore Information […]

New York lawmakers approved the first statewide declaw ban and, along with New Jersey, is looking at imposing rules on groomers. Who’s next?

2019 is a watershed year for politics and the pet care industry. Issues that drew scant attention for decades have caught the public eye or, better yet, the eager eyes of politicians wanting to tap into the surge of interest in pets. New York and New Jersey are prime battlegrounds for the issues of declawing […]