NOT A LIVING ROOM SOFA:CHANGING THE LEGAL STATUS OF COMPANION ANIMALS

Veterinary medicine has gone through tremendous changes in the past several decades. Until fairly recently, veterinary practice was viewed primarily as a “service profession to agriculture,” that involved many rote practices such as vaccinating herds of cows. In contrast, today’s veterinary practice focuses much more heavily on companion animal medicine and includes such specialty areas as veterinary oncology, veterinary orthopedics, veterinary cardiology, and even veterinary ophthalmology. In the ten years from 1991 to 2001, spending on veterinary care increased nearly three-fold, with expenditures totaling over nineteen billion dollars. View More