Colorado veterinary technicians to be regulated in 2023

Veterinary technicians in Colorado will be regulated under legislation signed by Gov. Jared Polis this summer.

Included in the 2022 Colorado Veterinary Practice Act, signed into law by Polis on June 8, is an outline for a program regulating veterinary technicians in the state.

The Colorado VMA and the Colorado Association of Certified Veterinary Technicians welcomed the governor’s signature. The associations have worked together since 2020 toward regulating the profession of veterinary technology.

Starting Jan. 1, 2023, only those veterinary technicians registered with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies can use the title of veterinary technician.

As the CVMA explained in a statement on its website, veterinary technicians who are not interested in registration can continue to do their job. According to the statement: “There is no task restriction for anyone, so they will be able to continue working in their current roles but will not be able to use the title veterinary technician.

“The most important joint goal for regulation of veterinary technicians has been to retain everyone now working as a veterinary technician in Colorado and to provide inclusive opportunities for regulation.”

Details of the regulatory program will be created by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies during the rule-making process this fall. In addition, two registered veterinary technicians will be appointed by the governor to serve on the State Board of Veterinary Medicine in 2023, along with the five veterinarians and two public members that currently comprise the board.

The National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America published a report this past February that indicated the veterinary practice acts for more than half of states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico lack restrictions on who can use the title of veterinary technician, whether because the practice acts do not define the title or do not specify who can use it.