The end of 2025 is in sight, so let’s review, topic by topic, what happened this year and what we can look forward to in 2026 and beyond. I will start with telemedicine and the 120 million Americans living in states — from New Jersey to California — where a pet owner can use virtual tools to establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship. That’s over 33% of the country.
In July, Ohio was the latest state to approve a telemedicine VCPR, with the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association officially neutral.
Georgia went in the other direction and passed a law that bars state residents from using the ASPCA Poison Control Hotline (what an invaluable resource) and allows telemedicine only if a pet owner calls every veterinary practice within 50 miles and cannot land an appointment. It’s hard to envision the law staying on the books for long.
Meanwhile, Texas holds legislative sessions every odd-numbered year, and they last just over five months. Republicans have total control of the House and Senate. The House passed a telemedicine VCPR bill, 129-13, but the Senate was blocked from voting on it. We’ll see if a few senators will be able to delay another vote in 2027.
Texas is also where the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Texas Veterinary Medical Examining Board a major defeat in September 2024 with the Hines decision. The conservative 5th Circuit panel ruled that the Texas board should not discipline a veterinarian who uses a telemedicine VCPR to treat an animal, absent evidence of the patient having been harmed. The court dismantled the board’s argument point by point, even throwing in some humor that “Uncle Bernard” can use telemedicine in Texas while a “Saint Bernard” can’t. Trust me, veterinary telemedicine is not dead in Texas.
Finally, critics of telemedicine continue to claim, or at least imply, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration bans veterinary telemedicine. It ain’t so. When the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act was passed 30 years ago, the FDA adopted a rule that extralabel drugs required a VCPR, which has always been the standard in-person definition. The agency didn’t choose between a traditional VCPR and a virtual VCPR because no one raised the comparison back then.
The FDA has not reexamined the issue, even though the FDA’s human health regulations recognize telemedicine except in the case of controlled drugs. (No veterinary telemedicine advocate supports using telemedicine for controlled drug prescriptions.)
Many observers are raising this question: Why doesn’t the FDA evaluate the evidence and progress and at least initiate hearings to reexamine its anti-telemedicine regulations from 30 years ago? The topic may have a heartbeat, but no action is pending.
VPAs
The Colorado Board of Veterinary Medicine continues to work hard on evaluating and adopting regulations to implement the veterinary professional associate law passed by Colorado voters in November 2024. Proponents and opponents are at the table and, believe it or not, progress is being made, with implementation likely in 2026. Colorado State University is preparing to admit its first VPA master’s degree class, and other states are watching. Colorado will serve as a pilot, allowing everyone to watch and learn.
Corporate Ownership and Private Equity
Critics continue to introduce legislation banning corporate ownership of veterinary practices, but they’re not gaining ground. Two such bills failed in Texas, and one of them targeted private equity.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has surfaced the topic in federal circles, and it’s likely we’ll see more of these measures in 2026 as Democrats, in particular, hope for success in an election year.
Veterinary medicine has grown accustomed to all forms of practice ownership, including corporate and private equity, and it’s hard to see a range fire sweeping the legislative landscape in 2026. Still, it’s too early to tell.
Artificial Intelligence
What more needs to be said that hasn’t already appeared in hundreds of media outposts, podcasts and the like? Conversations started and, for the most part, stopped with ambitions for veterinary medicine to regulate AI. The discussions are healthy, but does any reader expect veterinary medicine to crack the nut of regulating artificial intelligence?
School Accreditation
Critics are growing frustrated with the veterinary school accreditor, the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education. One leading school, Lincoln Memorial University, filed an antitrust action, and scores of schools decry the COE’s March 2025 decision to heavily restrict the use of online learning technologies, particularly at a time of faculty shortages.
A group of existing and new programs, mainly distributive clinical models, are experiencing harsh prescriptive regulations and decisions by the COE. Meanwhile, public universities in six Southern states pulled out of the higher education accreditor process, and the White House issued a far-reaching executive order challenging current accreditation practices. Keep your eyes peeled for more accreditation activity in the fourth quarter.
Is There a Veterinarian Shortage?
This mention of shortages is short. The AVMA and some trade organizations say veterinarian shortages don’t exist, but most others say yes. I side with former University of Florida Dean Dr. James W. Lloyd. His detailed data and time-honored economic rules say rising prices usually point to supply shortages, and veterinary medicine is no exception.
Barriers to Pet Ownership
The American Pet Products Association and Independence Pet Holdings are lobbying state and local governments to remove the most significant barrier to pet ownership: anti-pet housing policies. The effort will make it easier for the top two pet-owning demographics, millennials and Gen Zers, to own pets while they struggle to buy homes. The initiative will also help lower-income pet owners to maintain their freedom to enjoy the benefits of the human-animal bond. Any organization executive reading this should contact me to learn how you can help.
Last Word
Most of 2025 has found the pet industry uncertain about economic fundamentals and the pace of growth. Yet new players and technologies arrive at a steady rate, fueled by pet health care’s secret sauce: Over half of our pets are owned by millennials and Gen Zers, and the percentage is growing. These generational cohorts grew up with pets, love pets, want more pets, expect pet health care to match human health care in its offerings, and will grow their pet household as soon as the real estate market opens up. Put differently, the pet industry’s engine is the human-animal bond.
So, I say bring on 2026. If change and innovations are part of the package, then all the better.
LEARN MORE
Check out these Today’s Veterinary Business articles, all published earlier this year.
- Mark Cushing on “6 Steps for Reforming the Council on Education”: go.navc.com/COE-TVB
- Dr. James W. Lloyd on “The Veterinary Market’s Invisible Hand”: go.navc.com/Invisible-Hand-TVB
- Dr. Petra K. Harms on “How to Weigh AI’s Risks and Rewards”: go.navc.com/AI-Tools-TVB