Why Animal Shelters Support Better Policies for Veterinary Telemedicine
Animal shelters are facing a crisis as more pets are entering shelters than are leaving. At the same time, staffing and veterinary shortages are also impacting shelters’ capacity for care.
Meanwhile, more than one-third of pets in the U.S. do not even have access to veterinary care (AVC), often because their owners face financial, geographic, or logistical obstacles. Veterinary use of telemedicine is an excellent way to help increase access for these pets who otherwise suffer the lack of veterinary care – and it can help keep pets in homes and out of shelters.
Already a mainstream mode of human healthcare delivery, veterinary virtual care works for pets, too. Telemedicine can be used by veterinarians to establish a veterinary-client-patient-relationship (VCPR) and deliver healthcare services using remote telecommunications technology. Allowing veterinarians to make the determination about when this tool works for them and their clients is the key, as too many states take that decision out of the hands of the professionals. Enabling veterinarians to use telemedicine offers them an additional tool to diagnose conditions or provide treatments, rather than being confined to the single and sometimes challenging option of an in-person physical examination of a pet.
We asked 7 veterinary and legislative experts about the benefits of veterinary telemedicine and the obstacles to it:
- Jennifer Scarlett, DVM, Chief Executive Officer, San Francisco SPCA
- Sherry Silk, CEO, Humane Society of Tampa Bay, and President of the Florida Association of Animal Welfare Organizations
- Apryl Steele, DVM, CAWA, President & CEO, Dumb Friends League, and Board Chair for the Association of Animal Welfare Advancement
- Amy Wade-Carotenuto, Executive Director of Flagler Humane Society in Palm Coast, FL, Legislative Chair for the Florida Association of Animal Welfare Organizations, and Vice President of the Florida Animal Protection and Advocacy Association
- Stephanie Janeczko, DVM, MS, DABVP, CAWA, Vice President, Shelter Medicine Services, ASPCA,
- Kevin O’Neill, Vice President, State Affairs, ASPCA Government Relations,
- Brittany Benesi, Senior Director, State Legislation, ASPCA Government Relations
ASPCApro: We recently shared 3 reasons to support veterinary telemedicine, including expanded access to veterinary care, reduced patient fear and stress, and relief for animal shelters. What are the key benefits from your perspective?
Dr. Steele: With veterinary telemedicine, animals in rescues and shelters that don’t have a staff veterinarian can still be evaluated and treated quickly, especially for routine conditions like upper respiratory infections and gastrointestinal disorders. Contagion can be rapidly controlled, thus reducing the risk of disease to the general shelter population.
Wade-Carotenuto: Telemedicine will never replace in-person visits. But it can be a great supplement and free up doctors and staff to get minor cases handled quickly so they can devote time to more serious cases.
Telemedicine can open the door to medicine for pets belonging to people under financial strain, pet owners who have difficulties with transportation, or those who may not be able to physically handle their pets. A veterinarian can address minor issues or decide if a pet's illness or injury is serious enough to require an in-person visit. Even with the current national veterinary staff shortage, veterinarians could spread themselves among many more clients with telemedicine. Allowing a licensed veterinarian to decide when telemedicine is appropriate will result in care for more animals. It could also save veterinary practices money and time —for instance, less time cleaning up waiting rooms or fewer work comp claims from bite cases.
“Telemedicine provides quick and easy access to expertise and treatment for shelter animals. It increases access to veterinary care for community animals, thus reducing suffering.”
ASPCApro: Why should animal shelters care about telemedicine?
Dr. Scarlett: Shelters are a reflection of access to veterinary care in a community. This is most evident when we see the correlation between community spay-neuter and shelter intake, and it is reasonable to speculate we see a similar correlation with veterinary care more broadly. Telemedicine is an important tool to supplement care and support shelter staff with the current shortage of veterinarians.
The effects of the lack of access to veterinary care for animal shelters is that many shelters are unable to provide even essential care. A recent survey shows the majority of shelters in California with budgeted medical positions are understaffed—some without any veterinary professionals at all. Telemedicine would allow licensed veterinarians to guide shelters without medical staff as well as support existing shelter medical teams.
Dr. Steele: Telemedicine provides quick and easy access to expertise and treatment for shelter animals. It increases access to veterinary care for community animals, thus reducing suffering. Many pet owners need and want veterinary care for their pets, but due to the cost and ability to physically get to a veterinarian, many pets don’t receive the care they need.
Silk: Pet owners drive from other counties to visit our hospital at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay because they can’t afford local vet prices. We offer one of the few full-service, non-profit animal hospitals in Florida, and in 2022, our hospital saw nearly 40,000 dogs and cats. The high demand illustrates that people are desperate to find affordable care for their pets.
Wade-Carotenuto: Flagler Humane Society has veterinarians on staff every Tuesday through Saturday. Inevitably, on Saturday afternoons, right after the doctor leaves, we receive sick or injured animals. The nearest emergency hospital open on weekends is an hour away. We may end up driving an animal to the ER, but some issues can be dealt with over a video chat with our vet.
ASPCApro: According to research, more than one-third of U.S. pets do not see a veterinarian annually, often due to financial, geographic, or logistical barriers. How does telemedicine help overcome these barriers?
Dr. Steele: Veterinary telehealth offers a solution for many of these animals. Typically, 40% of animals presenting for telehealth appointments have their concerns resolved and do not need a follow-up, in-person visit. Telemedicine can help address financial barriers if cost-effective virtual care services are available. Better access to telemedicine can enable pet owners to avoid ancillary expenses related to transportation, travel time, or missed work.
Dr. Scarlett: Many dog owners are alarmed about recent reports of a canine respiratory disease outbreak, and they want sound information from a licensed professional on what to do to prevent infection, what vaccines they should get, what they should do if their dog is coughing and whether it’s safe to board their dogs. Veterinary clinics are over capacity, so this is a great example of where telemedicine can triage cases and provide owners with valuable recommendations.
Dr. Janeczko: Appropriate use of telemedicine can help shelters deliver care more efficiently and to animals who may not otherwise be able to obtain services, thereby improving animal health and welfare. More animals receiving accessible care could mean fewer pets in shelters and lead to shorter stays. This is a humane issue. Veterinarians are highly trained professionals who should be empowered to use their clinical acumen and expertise to decide if and when telemedicine is an appropriate modality to use for a specific patient or population.
ASPCApro: Telemedicine for new patients is currently available only in Arizona, California, Idaho, New Jersey, Vermont, and Virginia. What does it take to pass legislation expanding access to telemedicine in other states?
Dr. Steele: Removing legal barriers to telemedicine will require logic and empathy. In the current political climate, with organized trade associations fighting progressive policy change in telemedicine delivery, shelters have a strong and respected voice in promoting thoughtful laws to enable the use of telemedicine. We need to support state-by-state changes to the relevant laws and regulations to enable the VCPR to be created virtually.
Benesi: The ASPCA recently joined with animal shelter partners and helped lead a successful campaign in California to broaden access to telemedicine, with California’s State Legislature voting to pass a bill to increase access to veterinary care services via telehealth in June 2023. Assembly Bill 1399, co-sponsored by the ASPCA and San Diego Humane Society, was backed by research, experience, shelter partners, and licensed veterinarians. Effective January 1, 2024, it allows for expanded use of veterinary telemedicine in California, including the establishment of a VCPR using audio-video technology.
The support provided by the shelter community, from those who are seeing the impacts of the veterinary crisis firsthand—including veterinarians like Dr. Scarlett—who met with or contacted California lawmakers advocating for the bill, had a significant impact on AB 1399's success.
O’Neill: During the COVID-19 pandemic, when states across the country temporarily waived regulations blocking veterinary telemedicine for new or lapsed patients (those patients who may not have seen a veterinarian in over a year), veterinarians and shelters witnessed firsthand the usefulness of telemedicine for safely and conveniently expanding access to veterinary care.
With the ongoing critical shortage of veterinarians particularly impacting shelter medicine and rural areas, the time has come to remove unnecessary policy barriers to veterinary telemedicine. Outdated, pre-pandemic laws that require veterinarians to perform an in-person examination before they can legally treat a patient must be modernized to ensure veterinarians can use this vital tool in the toolbox at their discretion to reach more patients—just as all 50 state laws have been updated over the years in human medicine to enable physicians to use telemedicine at their discretion, including for infants and other nonverbal people.
Today, in addition to states like New Jersey and Virginia that empowered veterinarians to use telemedicine for all patients before the pandemic, we are seeing more states considering legislation to bring veterinary telemedicine online in a meaningful way, including states like Michigan, New York, Arkansas, Washington, and Florida. It’s a legislative trend the ASPCA embraces, and we encourage animal sheltering organizations to join us in the effort to pass laws that effectively empower veterinarians to use telemedicine technology to help more animals in need.
Veterinary Telemedicine Position Statements
Association for Animal Welfare Advancement
Association of Shelter Veterinarians
Additional Veterinary Telemedicine Resources on ASPCApro
3 Reasons to Support Veterinary Telemedicine
Veterinary Professionals: Sign Our Petition Calling for Greater Access to Veterinary Telemedicine
We have lots more on this subject: