Veterinary Voices

Accreditor OKs second Lincoln Memorial veterinary school

An allegation in a lawsuit filed by Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee against the American Veterinary Medical Association could be undercut by a recent accreditation decision in the school's favor.

This story was published on Sept. 11, 2025.

Veterinarians asked to be alert for screwworm infestations

Dr. Will McCauley remembers a parasitology unit in veterinary school when his professors at Texas A&M University described the New World screwworm fly, an insect that once wreaked havoc in Texas but has long been eradicated in the United States.

"It was here in the '60s and '70s, but not anymore," McCauley recalled the instructors saying. "You'll probably never see it."

But it's looking like that won't be the case.

This story was published on Sept. 9, 2025.

When the patients are odds and ends and silicone

Dr. Julie Hunt knows how to sew latex fabric, wield a Dremel grinder and mix and pour foam like a practiced crafter. Early in her veterinary career, she did not anticipate these skills would play a role in educating future practitioners.

This story was published on Sept. 4, 2025, as the second of a two-part series. Read or listen to part 1.

Terminal labs: Controversial veterinary teaching method ebbs

When she was a veterinary student, Dr. Meghan Shannon was heartsick at the prospect of learning surgery by operating multiple times on a dog that didn't need it, then ending its life intentionally.

Being at a school in the southern United States, Shannon already felt like an outcast as a vegan Northerner sporting a crew cut and nose ring. So she didn't hesitate to openly question the practice.

This story was published on Sept. 3, 2025, as the first of a two-part series. Read or listen to part 2.

Show notes:

• A public records review of cadaver and terminal animal use in US and Canadian veterinary schools, Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, Aug. 20, 2025
• A survey of the use of live animals, cadavers, inanimate models, and computers in teaching veterinary surgery, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Oct. 1, 1993
• Guidance on the operation of the Animals Scientific Procedures Act 1986
• AAVMC Use of Animals in Veterinary Medical Education Handbook

Ticks' expanding ranges keep veterinarians on their toes

On a June morning two years ago, Kristin Laidre's dog, Molly, suddenly fell off her owners' bed.

"She just crashed to the ground," Laidre said. "She couldn't use her legs. They were basically like Jell-O."

This story was published on Aug. 29, 2025.

Hike or bust: Veterinarians in BC vote on registration fees

Veterinarians in British Columbia had a tough decision to make by the end of August about the regulatory fees they must pay to practice in the Canadian province.

The provincial regulatory body for the profession, the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia, asked them to approve a 36% hike in their annual registration fee to CA$1,900 (US$1,374), among a raft of other fee increases. Without the increases, the college said, it would become insolvent.

This story was published on Aug. 27, 2025.

Update: The proposed fee increases were approved, with 55.4% voting in favor and 44.6% against, the CVBC said in a statement on Sept. 2. Of 2,595 eligible registrants, 36% voted.

'It was crazy': Inside the shutdown of The Vets

Jerrold Abber finished his shift as a veterinary technician on a recent Monday and returned to his home in Tampa, Florida, thinking nothing was amiss. Then, at 9:39 p.m., an email arrived from his employer, The Vets, a mobile veterinary services provider. The July 21 message said the company was furloughing its employees without pay, effective immediately.

Abber was astonished. "We had appointments the next day," he said. "It was crazy."

This story was published on Aug. 21, 2025.

US veterinarians join effort to aid honey bees

Dr. Kristol Stenstrom didn't seek out beekeeping — the bees came to her.

The Kansas veterinarian came home one day in 2016 to find a honey bee swarm had taken up residence on her front porch. In awe but also frightened, she called acquaintances who were familiar with bees. Then, not one to turn down a challenge nor turn away strays — even 30,000 of them — Stenstrom decided to keep the bees.

"It was kind of baptism by fire," Stenstrom said.

This story was published on Aug. 19, 2025.

Donation to fund Australian veterinary school revamp, growth

When Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, celebrated its 50th birthday last year, festivities were tinged by an awareness that its aging facilities could do with an upgrade.

Now, the veterinary school has received a large, unexpected shot in the arm that will enable it to update the school and increase by about 50% the number of openings each year for domestic and international students combined.

This story was published on Aug. 13, 2025.

Union for veterinary support staff shuts down

The only union dedicated solely to veterinary support staff in the United States has shuttered. Its collapse was precipitated by the closure, in May, of an animal hospital in the Seattle area, where workers represented by the National Veterinary Professionals Union were negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.

This story was published on Aug. 12, 2025.