The professionals who care for animals are either technicians, technical specialists or veterinarians depending on educational levels and responsibilities. Proposition 129 on the November ballot, which The Durango Herald’s editorial board supports, would create an additional category, veterinarian professional associate.
A master’s degree in veterinarian clinical care, or an equivalent field, would be the academic level needed. The position would fall above the two technicians’ levels and below that of veterinarian.
A veterinarian requires a doctoral degree.
Those in the new position would join those in the other positions in registering with and be overseen by the state’s Board of Veterinarian Medicine.
With the new position, pet owners ought to have easier access to veterinarian services and to services at the needed level, and perhaps at a lower cost.
There are certainly people who desire to practice a somewhat higher level of veterinarian medicine without the time and cost associated with obtaining a doctoral degree. For those who might feel this new position might lead to inexperienced delivery errors, the state board will have oversight here, as well.
Add to the various levels of professional veterinarians by voting “yes” on Proposition 129. It’s a statute, as it should be, rather than an addition to the state’s already overburdened constitution.
