The Veterinary Professional Associate, or VPA, poses a serious risk to pet safety in the veterinary clinic and does not combat the veterinary workforce shortage or high veterinary prices. As a pet parent or member of the veterinary field, there are many reasons why you should be against creating VPAs and sign this petition in opposition of bills that will establish this role. This petition was originally created in March 2026 to directly voice opposition of SB 796, which was a bill establishing VPAs in Florida that was advancing through the Florida Senate. The bill did not advance beyond a 2nd reading before the end of the legislative season for 2026. However, we must continue to gain signatures for this petition and continue conversations about the dangers of VPAs since a new bill could be proposed and passed next year.

Please share this petition on social media, contact your senator (find your senator here) and consider donating through this link to fund ads for the petition (if you donate directly through change.org, I have no way of tracking how, if at all, your donation supports the petition). If you are not located in Florida, please still sign because it demonstrates to other states that the public is against the creation of a VPA! As animal lovers, let’s make our voices heard! If you are interested in learning more about how VPAs will endanger pets and negatively affect the vet field, please read below.  

One of the most concerning components of the recently proposed bill is that a VPA will only earn a mostly online masters degree but will be allowed to perform euthanasia, dental surgery, and neuters, as well as diagnose, treat and prescribe. Veterinarians in the United States, on the other hand, are expected to complete a bachelor's degree, four years of veterinary school, and pass a licensing exam (the NAVLE) at minimum in order to provide these same services. Veterinarians undergo an extremely rigorous four years of medical school to learn the ins and outs of dentistry, anesthesia, and more to ensure the safety of their patients during these procedures. A veterinary PA, however, is not held to the same standard as a vet, despite being allowed to perform the same surgeries. 

The only other state with an established VPA role is Colorado. The VPA program in Colorado, which Florida’s proposed VPA was modeled after, is only five semesters long, three of which are completely online. The Florida Veterinary Medical Association (FVMA) strongly opposes the bill because of this. They state that VPAs will have less than 30% of the clinical hours human physician’s assistants receive. Human medicine PAs can also only assist in surgery, not perform surgery solo. Why should these standards be lowered for our animal patients? The bill argues that VPAs should be introduced because human PAs play a crucial role in health care, however, vet med operates very differently than human medicine and should not be treated as if they are the same.

Some organizations, to name a few, that oppose a VPA role include: The American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB), the AVMA, NAVTA, American Animal Hospital Association, American Association of Equine Practitioners, American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, American Association of Swing Veterinarians, the Student AVMA, and FelineVMA. But outside the vet field, a 2023 survey by the AVMA also found a majority of pet owners are opposed to non-veterinarian led care. If the veterinary field at large and pet owners oppose the bill, it begs the question of who is pushing for the establishment of VPAs. That would be corporate veterinary chains, who can increase profit margins by employing less-trained VPAs while billing pet owners the same cost for procedures usually performed by veterinarians. Corporations own approximately 30% of vet clinics, up from only 10% in 2017, but generate 50% of the primary care revenue. 

There is only one veterinary school in Florida, the University of Florida. In only three short days the weekend before March 3rd, over 200 students (over a third of the student body) signed a letter expressing their opposition to SB 796. This goes to show how the future of the profession feels about the creation of a VPA.

Instead of establishing a new widely unwanted position, efforts should focus on: eliminating private equity interests in veterinary medicine, addressing monopolization of pharmaceutical and laboratory settings, establishing title protection for veterinary technicians and/or implementing measures for vet techs to advance their skills, expanding loan repayment program or scholarship opportunities for veterinary school to decrease student debt, and incentivizing veterinarians to practice in rural areas. 

Please sign this petition, share on social media, contact your Florida senator to express your concerns and consider donating. We must stand up for the voiceless, the pets we all know and love!