Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York issued a sweeping executive order that essentially put the state on a pandemic lockdown beginning Sunday, March 22. One week later, my friend Cyndi, an exotics pet specialist at the Animal Medical Center in New York, said that she and all other part-time veterinarians […]
Homelessness is a crisis in the United States. On a single night in 2018, more than half-a-million people were in emergency shelters, temporary housing or on the street, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Homelessness is also increasing in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics says the […]
The year 2018 brought turmoil to the US veterinary profession, making it a miniature reflection of the turmoil in the US. Mergers and acquisitions Coming off its multibillion-dollar buy in 2017, of the second-largest veterinary hospital chain in North America (Veterinary Clinics of America or VCA), Mars Inc. (yes, the […]
Delegates at the 2017 AVMA meeting asked the AVMA to develop and disseminate information on marijuana as it pertains to four areas: (1) current legal status of cannabis as applied to veterinarians; (2) unified definitions of cannabis and its derivatives; (3) current research on the use of cannabis in animals; […]
Tom Donnelly writes on developments in the US veterinary industry. While big businesses such as Banfield Pet Hospital and VCA (Veterinary Centers of America) — the two largest owners of veterinary hospitals in the world, both owned by Mars. Inc. — grow, a group of practitioners who value their autonomy […]
