Veterinary Voices

If administrators of the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination thought their recent statement about a planned audit would quell controversy, reactions from several exam critics suggest otherwise.

This story was published on July 30, 2026.

At every veterinary practice where she's ever worked, a doctor we'll call Mary Smith has been compelled to accept a noncompetition agreement as a condition of hire. From her own experience and in talking to colleagues, she's found noncompetes to be a non-negotiable constant in the profession.

By this time next year, though, and for the first time in nearly two decades, the veterinarian no longer will be held to such a restriction.

This story was published on July 27, 2026.

Has the world hit peak French bulldog?

In the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and throughout continental Europe — including the French bulldog's namesake, France — the tide has turned, in some locations, dramatically.

This story was published on July 21, 2026.

Today, at least a few hundred veterinarians in the United States practice end-of-life care, comprised of palliative medicine, an approach focused on managing clinical signs and providing comfort; and hospice, which provides support for terminally ill patients.

According to a committee representing a nascent American College of Veterinary Hospice and Palliative Medicine, it's time to make it a formal specialty.

This story was published on July 14, 2026.

A small contingent of veterinarians globally have expertise in one of the least understood members of the animal kingdom: coral.

"When I told people I was taking [a] coral pathology fellowship, one of the reactions I got was, 'Oh, so you're not going to be a veterinarian anymore,' " one recalled. "And I was like, 'No, I totally am. They're animals.' "

This story was published on July 9, 2026.

Dr. Lina Cortés became a veterinarian more than a decade ago and has, for most of that time, had her eye on practicing in the United States. As someone trained in the South American country of Colombia, Cortés knew she would need to pass a variety of exams before qualifying for a veterinary license.

What she didn't anticipate was that the quest would stretch out for an indeterminate, and seemingly interminable, number of years.

This story was published on July 6, 2026.

Developers of artificial intelligence tools for veterinarians should disclose whether veterinary professionals were involved in their products' development and have ownership in their businesses, according to guidelines being finalized in the United Kingdom.

The recommendation is one of 23 principles in a draft working paper drawn up by the Veterinary AI Transparency Alliance, a group led by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the U.K.'s professional regulator, and Digital Practice, a company that provides client communication, scheduling and payment services.

This story was published on July 2, 2026.

After a case of New World screwworm was found in a dog living in New Mexico, a veterinarian in the state reached out to the VIN News Service with a concern – not about the parasite, per se, but about how new restrictions on animal travel might catch some pet owners unawares.

"I'm worried people are going to get blindsided flying with their animals to other states!" wrote Dr. Nicholas Hopkins, a practitioner in Albuquerque.

This story was published on June 25, 2026.

A highly virulent form of avian influenza that has devastated bird and some mammal populations across multiple continents has gone truly global, having been detected in Australia for the first time.

Its discovery there — by a veterinarian who, by chance, picked up a sick seabird while she was walking on a beach — has prompted at least one large commercial poultry operator to lock down some of its farms. Concerns also have been raised for the safety of vulnerable and endangered species like Australian sea lions, black swans, little penguins, orange-bellied parrots and Tasmanian devils.

This story was published on June 23, 2026.

Over the past two decades, large corporations have established a formidable presence in most facets of veterinary care, amassing sizable to dominant market shares in general practice, specialty hospitals, pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.

One domain, however, is proving hard for them to crack, seemingly providing a bastion for small, independent operators: house call practice.

This story was published on June 16, 2026.