New bill could help increase quality of healthcare for pets in California
SACRAMENTO – New efforts are underway to help encourage more Californians to become veterinarians. The state could soon be helping pay off some of those school loans.
Booking a veterinarian appointment can be a struggle for many pet owners. Heather Arroyo, a dog owner, said it's been hard to find a vet for her four-year-old sproodle named Xena, stating "I would say about four weeks, sometimes a little longer." Arroyo also noted that "some people aren't even accepting new patients anymore so you have to call around to 5,6,7 different places, I had to all the way to el dorado hills."
Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine) says, "there is a crisis level of need for veterinarians all across the state." Petrie-Norris says much of the shortage is due to the high cost of attending vet medical school, stating "the average veterinarian graduates with almost 200-thousand dollars in debt."
Now, Petrie-Norris is introducing a bill at the state capitol that could help more people afford to become animal doctors, offering up to 150 thousand to pay off vet school tuition. When asked how veterinarian graduates can qualify for the loan repayment program, Petrie-Norris says, "participants would have to commit to serving in an underserved area of the state for a period of five years, and so it's a big commitment."
"I think that's great, I think it would be a good way to get more people to want to be vets," Arroyo said.
Animal advocates say the biggest need right now is in local animal shelters, where thousands of pets need medical treatment, and dogs and cats must be spayed or neutered before they can be adopted out.
"We really need to get care to pets that are in these shelters so that we can find them their forever homes," Petrie-Norris said.