Veterinary Voices

In 2023, Dr. Summer Hedges signed on to beta test scribing software that uses artificial intelligence to convert recordings of a veterinary appointment into a medical record.

Two years later, she’s fully on board with the software — one among a growing number of early adopters. Regulators advise caution when using the fast-evolving technology.

This story was published on Nov. 3, 2025.

As anyone who follows government policy on noncompete agreements probably knows, the past 18 months have been a roller coaster in the United States.

The ride began in early May 2024, when the Federal Trade Commission published a rule that would render most employer-employee noncompete agreements in the country unenforceable. Noncompetes are clauses in contracts meant to prevent former employees from competing against their ex-employers, usually within a particular geographic area for a defined period of time. They are common in the veterinary profession, among other occupations.

This story was published on Oct. 29, 2025.

The Royal Veterinary College has regained full accreditation by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education after its students sharply improved their collective performance on the key licensing exam that must be passed to practice veterinary medicine in the United States and Canada.

Students at the British school who elected to take the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam achieved a pass rate of 86% during the 2024-25 academic year, according to an update posted on the school website.

This story was published on Oct. 27, 2025.

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This story was published on Oct. 20, 2025.

Veterinary practices in the United Kingdom will have to state the prices of key services such as vaccinations, diagnostics and surgery up front, under provisional rules outlined on Oct. 15 by the country's competition regulator.

The rules also include a requirement for practices to clearly disclose their ownership to the public and the imposition of a £16 (US$21) cap on prescription fees, which many veterinarians charge when clients purchase drugs from a third-party provider.

This story was published on Oct. 15, 2025.

South Carolina is accepting applications to the state's first veterinary school, following a nod from the accreditor of veterinary education.

This story was published on Oct. 14, 2025.

Early efforts are underway to establish veterinary social work as a distinct vocation in Australia and the United Kingdom, potentially bringing increased global recognition to a role that has been gaining traction gradually in North America.

This story was published on Oct. 8, 2025.

When Sgt. Christopher Moore goes to work in the Harris County Sheriff's Office in Houston, his partner, Rex, is always at his side.

A K9 officer, Rex is one of many specially trained working dogs around the country — often German shepherds — that assist law enforcement, military and other emergency response organizations, including search and rescue. K9s perform a variety of tasks. They detect drugs or explosives, track missing persons, help to apprehend suspects and more.

This story was published on Oct. 2, 2025.

After skipping a cycle selecting applicants for the first time in its 15-year history, a federal incentive program to draw veterinarians to work in rural, underserved regions of the United States is coming back online.

The return of the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program was announced in a Rural Veterinary Action Plan issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Aug. 28 to strengthen the rural food animal veterinary workforce.

This story was published on Sept. 25, 2025.

Dr. Debra Zoran has lost count of the number of times people have complained to her about losing their pets during natural disasters.

"I've heard it over and over and over again: 'I didn't think my dog would run off in the middle of the night,' " Zoran said. "If there's a fire bearing down on the house and they're loose, they're running. It's survival instinct."

This story was published on Sept. 23, 2025.