By Lindy Browning | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice
It’s a rare occasion indeed when we see Gov. Jared Polis and Heidi Ganahl, former rivals in the 2022 governor’s race, agree on much of anything. Proposition 129, on your general election ballot, is just the thing that they could speak about in one voice.
Prop. 129 asks voters to approve a new mid-level veterinary practitioner, equating the mid-level practitioner to a physician’s assistant for humans. The duties of this newly proposed veterinarian professional associate (VPA) would overlap between those of the veterinarian (DVM) and those of a traditional vet tech.
The proposed VPA would be able to diagnose, recommend treatment and perform some surgeries under the supervision of a DVM. If Prop. 129 passes, it would not go into effect until January 2027.
This proposal comes to the ballot through the efforts of an alliance of a group called All Pets Deserve Vet Care. The alliance includes animal welfare groups, some veterinarians, pet owners, ranchers and other experts who share in the common goal of finding solutions to a shortage of vet professionals in Colorado.
In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) identified eight areas of Colorado as having a significant shortage of veterinary services.
Twenty five rural counties, mostly in western and southern Colorado, including Garfield, Mesa, Rio Blanco, Delta, Montrose, Ouray, and San Miguel counties on the western slope, and, southern Colorado counties, Pueblo, Crowley, Otero, Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache, Baca, Bent, Kiowa, and Prowers counties suffer the same circumstances.
The northeast and central part of the state in Elbert, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Washington and Yuma counties pet and livestock owners are also being impacted.
Although Gov. Polis and Ganahl agree on the solutions, others say not so fast. They have concerns that there could be unintended consequences that may result in inadequately trained people putting people’s pets and livestock at risk. They worry about a significant increase in liability to the DVM that is supervising the new VPA’s, if there is an error resulting in injury or death in an animal due to inadequate training.
There is also a concern about redundancy and conflict in mandates set forth in this proposition and recent legislation passed by bipartisan Colorado legislators earlier this year that takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.
HB24-1047, sponsored by House Reps. Democrat Karen McCormick (HD11) and Republican Marc Catlin (HD58) and State Sens. Democrat Dylan Roberts (SD 8) and Republican Cleave Simpson (SD 6), provides a solution to the significant shortage of vet care and high costs associated with that shortage in Colorado.
The legislation passed and was signed by the governor on March 27, 2024. The bill greatly enhances and expands the traditional role of veterinary techs. This bill also directs the State Board of Veterinary Medicine to create rules regarding supervision and delegation of specific tasks to vet technicians. They were also directed to establish a vet tech specialist designation with appropriate training, to take on these advanced and expanded duties.
The only major difference between Prop. 129 and HB24- 1047, the current law, is the ability for vet techs to perform any form of surgery. HB 24-1047 does not permit vet techs to perform surgeries, and Prop. 129 would allow for minor surgeries including spay and neuter.
Dr. Kelly Walsh, president of the Colorado Veterinary Association, wrote in an op-ed that Prop. 129 presents some dangerous risks by allowing vet techs to practice the full scope of veterinary care, including performing surgery with inadequate and mostly online training, such as is proposed for VPA designees. She said that surgical procedures, even routine surgeries, require a high degree of training and expertise and she has concerns about inadequately prepared individuals performing these duties, putting animals’ lives at greater risk.
Rep. McCormick, who has been a veterinarian for 40 years has publicly said, “Why would we be creating a position that mimics and duplicates what we have already done.”
House District 54 Rep. Matt Soper, who represents one of the areas of critical vet care shortages, said: “We have a representative form of government. If we’re going to take all these issues to the ballot box, we might as well abolish the legislature and be a direct form of democracy; a form of government that hasn’t been tried since ancient Greece and failed, replaced by the rise of the Roman Empire which was the first representative republic form of government.”