How Wall Street Took Over Your Vet - Senator Elizabeth Warren

[Rhiannon12866]

People love their pets.

Private equity smelled that love — and that money — and now vet bills are through the roof.

I have a bill to put a stop to this. - 06/26/2026.

[hlthe2b]

1. Most veterinarians are horrified by this trend too... With the exception of a few who sold clinics

at just the right time--older veterinarians typically, the rest know this means they can never own their own clinic and only the relative wealthy (or those who leverage their savings) may be able to own a pet in the future. That they will have to turn down the level of quality care they had been able to find some way to provide to even those who were not economically able to pay for it. I have veterinary friends who see what we have done in human medicine and the same exact trends hitting them. These corporate clinics take advantage of their veterinarians every bit as much as they do the pet owners. Nobody wins.

I'll be contacting Elizabeth Warren's office to express support for her efforts. I'd suggest others do as well.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Thanks! And I feel the exact same way.

I've had at least one pet for most of my life and since I've adopted from rescue, many of them are older. I adopted my cocker spaniel Barney at age 10 or 11 and had him for 8 years, so he did need veterinary care as he got older. I actually took him for acupuncture which had worked for me, and it worked for him as well. Kudos to Senator Warren!

[hlthe2b]

4. Maybe cross-post in the Pets forum to get some more supporters to contact Warren?

[Rhiannon12866]

5. I did think of posting there first, but thanks, I'll take your suggestion

I sure know how fellow DUers feel about their pets and I'm the same way.

[catchnrelease]

2. 100% true

She is totally right. So many local vets around here (SoCal) have been taken over by VCA (Veterinary Centers of America) it's difficult to find one that isn't part of their network now. They are horrible about up-selling procedures, tests and products. I dread that our independent primary vet will be taken over too. Even the Veterinary Cancer Group that my dogs have gone to is now part of some network instead of being a 3 clinic group.

I see so many posts online by people that are, as Sen Warren says, devastated that they can't afford the care their pets need. Something that would be expensive to start with is now astronomical and out of reach. I so hope she can get her bill passed asap.

[Botany]

6. They bought out my local vet office a few years ago and prices jumped.

That office had been part of the neighborhood for 60 years. I love my vets who have
practice @ that office but something is very wrong with Wall Street taking over it.

[Rhiannon12866]

7. My vet is fairly close by and he works on his own, no office staff except for his wife, but then she died last year

I'm not sure what I'll do if he decides to retire.

[FakeNoose]

8. I think we are lucky in the Pittsburgh area, the VCA group hasn't shown up here

We have a lot of successful neighborhood vet clinics and they have remained independent. They aren't cheap but they are reasonable and accessible. Dogs especially are very popular in Pittsburgh because we have so many "green" areas within our city limits.

[Rhiannon12866]

9. I've had a dog my whole life, my Dad got the family a cocker spaniel when I was a kid because he had had one

And I loved that dog more than I'd ever loved anyone or anything. My uncle, who trained his own dogs (collies) got my Dad a book on how to train your cocker spaniel. But my Dad had a stressful job and worked long hours (manager of the power company in Northeastern New York), so I read that book and ran out of things to teach my very smart dog/puppy. I had that pup for 15 years, missed her terribly, but that's when I knew about and went with rescue.

So at this point I have had eight dogs in my life, for several years I have had two. The eldest was my Barney who I adopted at age 10 or 11 and I had him for 8 wonderful years. He was another cocker spaniel, very smart, with a wonderful personality. And my last was my Jack, a Brussels Griffon who I adopted as a puppy, and lost him four years ago at age 16. My friend has a daughter who rescues cats, so she gave me a very personable cat, and I cherish him, but it's not quite the same.

[FakeNoose]

10. It's so hard when you lose them, it feels like losing a family member

... or even a "best friend."

[Rhiannon12866]

11. It's the worst. I still miss my little Jack every single day.

And a DU friend of mine posts a kind of eulogy when he's lost a dog. And when I lost Jack he encouraged me to post about it, but I just couldn't. It's too painful. And I've learned why. In many ways losing a dog is tougher than losing a person since the dog is always with you.

[GiqueCee]

12. Private Equity...

... is a malignant cancer that should be wiped off the face of the Earth forever. Their greed and malice make Trump look like Mother Theresa. Well, almost.
These evil bastards borrowed their business model from the Mafia; they just have better tailors.