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Expand Veterinary Telemedicine To Keep Pets In Homes

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Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site

Outdated veterinary laws can leave pets untreated, families desperate, and shelters overwhelmed when safe telemedicine could help.

Man wearing glasses gently hugs a brown dog close to his chest, resting his forehead against the dog’s head.

Millions of families struggle to get veterinary help when their pets need it. Cost, distance, transportation, clinic shortages, work schedules, disability, and animal stress can turn a basic appointment into an impossible choice.1

The ASPCA reported that one quarter of pet owners surveyed said they needed veterinary care in the prior two years but could not get it. Among those with unmet needs, 69% said they had interest in veterinary telemedicine if available, and 66% said they would see a veterinarian more often if telemedicine were an option.2

Outdated Laws Block A Practical Tool

Telemedicine is not a replacement for every in-person exam. It is one tool licensed veterinarians can use when their professional judgment says it is safe and appropriate. Yet many state laws still require an in-person physical exam before a veterinarian can diagnose, treat, or prescribe, even when a remote visit could help.3

These restrictions hit rural families, low-income pet owners, seniors, people with mobility limits, anxious animals, and shelter pets especially hard. When care is delayed or denied, treatable problems can worsen. Families may be forced to surrender animals they love.

Washington Showed A Better Path

In 2026, Washington passed H.B. 2247 to expand veterinary telemedicine access while keeping guardrails in place. The law allows licensed veterinarians to use telehealth in defined circumstances, requires professional judgment, preserves recordkeeping and consent rules, and lets veterinarians require an in-person exam when needed.4

Other states should follow this model. Veterinary boards and lawmakers can protect animals and the public while giving licensed professionals the flexibility to help pets before a crisis deepens.

Sign the petition urging state legislatures and veterinary medical boards to modernize veterinary laws and expand safe telemedicine access for pets.

More on this issue:

  1. ASPCA, ASPCA (25 March 2026), “ASPCA Commends Washington Gov. Ferguson for Signing Bill to Increase Access to Veterinary Telemedicine for Pets.”
  2. ASPCA, ASPCA (10 April 2023), “Pet Owners Need Access to Telemedicine Amid Nationwide Shortage of Veterinarians, New ASPCA Survey Reveals.”
  3. ASPCA, ASPCA (n.d.), “Position Statement on Veterinary Telemedicine.”
  4. Washington State House Committee on Health Care & Wellness, Washington State Legislature (19 March 2026), “House Bill Report ESHB 2247.”

The Petition

Dear State Legislators and Members of Veterinary Medical Boards,

I urge you to modernize veterinary laws so licensed veterinarians can use telemedicine when appropriate to help pets, families, and shelters access timely care.

Across the country, too many pet owners face serious barriers to veterinary treatment. Rural communities may have few nearby clinics. Low-income families may struggle with appointment costs, transportation, or time away from work. Seniors and people with disabilities may have trouble transporting animals. Some pets are frightened, difficult to move, or so stressed by clinic visits that families delay care until the condition worsens.

Veterinary telemedicine will not replace every in-person exam, and it should not be used when hands-on treatment is necessary. But licensed veterinarians are trained medical professionals. They should be trusted to decide when a remote visit is safe, useful, and humane, and when a pet must be seen in person.

States can expand access while preserving safeguards. Washington’s H.B. 2247 offers a practical model. It allows veterinarians to use telehealth in defined circumstances while requiring client consent, proper records, professional judgment, licensing information, follow-up guidance, and referral to in-person care when needed. That is the kind of balanced reform pets and families need.

Outdated laws that block telemedicine can leave animals untreated for preventable or manageable conditions. They can force families into impossible choices. They can add pressure to already strained shelters when people surrender pets they might have kept with earlier help.

Compassionate policy should meet people where they are. A family should not lose a beloved animal because they live too far from a clinic, lack transportation, cannot secure a fast appointment, or need a veterinarian to assess whether an in-person visit is truly necessary.

Please update state veterinary laws and rules to allow licensed veterinarians to use telemedicine when appropriate, including for access-limited families, rural communities, seniors, low-income pet owners, anxious animals, and shelter populations.

These actions will protect animal welfare, strengthen veterinary access, keep more pets with the people who love them, and ensure a better future for all.

Sincerely,

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