Sheldon: Proposition 129 is dangerous for your pets

With so much on the ballot this Nov. 5, it is easy to overlook things.

As a veterinarian who has devoted his career to caring for your pets, I wanted to alert you to one item: Proposition 129. Prop 129 seeks to create a new paraprofessional in the veterinary field called a veterinary professional associate.

Under Prop 129, students would complete a mostly online program with minimal hands-on training, and a one-semester internship. As outlined, the program would encompass 65 credit hours, which is about half the credit hours required by most programs for veterinarians and would consist of three semesters of fully online lectures with no laboratory; a fourth semester of truncated basic clinical skills training; and a short internship/practicum.

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