Introduction

For most of the history of veterinary medicine, animal hospitals were locally owned and operated by veterinarians who lived and worked in the communities they served. Pet owners built long-term relationships with their veterinary teams, and many veterinarians spent their entire careers caring for generations of local families and their pets. Over the past decade, however, the veterinary landscape has changed dramatically. Fueled by private equity investment and corporate consolidation, thousands of veterinary practices across the United States have been acquired by large organizations, fundamentally reshaping the profession.

These changes have affected everyone involved in veterinary care. Pet owners often find themselves navigating a more complex and expensive system, sometimes struggling to maintain continuity with the veterinarians they know and trust. Veterinarians face increasing administrative demands, productivity targets, and fewer opportunities to own practices themselves, particularly as acquisition prices have risen beyond the reach of many individual buyers. Meanwhile, corporate groups have pursued rapid growth strategies while managing the challenges of integrating hundreds of hospitals across diverse markets.

IndependentVet.com was created to help restore transparency and choice. The project grew out of our work on PrivateEquityVet.org, a site launched after the loss of our dog, Pluto, at a recently acquired veterinary practice in Berkeley, California. As we mapped corporate and private equity ownership across the veterinary industry, one message became clear from pet owners and veterinary professionals alike: knowing which practices are corporately owned is only half the equation. People also want an easy way to identify independently owned veterinary practices in their communities. This site exists to provide that resource—helping pet owners discover local independent veterinarians, supporting practice owners who have chosen to remain independent, and bringing greater visibility and balance to the future of veterinary medicine.

What do we define as an independent veterinary practice?

As a general rule, we consider a veterinary practice to be independent when it is majority owned and controlled by the veterinarians who work in the practice, or by a small group of local veterinarians. In contrast, we do not consider practices owned by private equity firms, publicly traded corporations, or large veterinary consolidators to be independent, even when local veterinarians retain some minority ownership interest.

We recognize that veterinary practice ownership structures can be complex and do not always fit neatly into a single category. For this reason, we also consider who ultimately controls key decisions relating to patient care, staffing, pricing, compensation, and the strategic direction of the practice. Our goal is not to apply a rigid legal definition, but to provide pet owners with a practical and transparent way to identify veterinary practices that remain locally owned, locally managed, and largely autonomous in how they serve their patients and communities.

What are the benefits of going to an independent veterinary practice?

Every veterinary practice is different, and excellent veterinarians can be found in both independent and corporate settings. However, independent veterinary practices often offer advantages that many pet owners value. Because decisions are made locally rather than by a distant corporate office, independent practices typically have greater flexibility in how they care for patients, communicate with clients, and structure their services. Pet owners may benefit from stronger relationships with the veterinary team, greater continuity of care, and the ability to work directly with the veterinarians who own and operate the practice.

Independent practices are also deeply connected to the communities they serve. Their success depends on earning the trust of local pet owners rather than meeting targets set by investors or corporate shareholders. Many pet parents appreciate knowing that the money they spend stays within their community and supports veterinarians who have a personal stake in the long-term health of both their patients and their practice. While independence alone does not guarantee better care, it often creates an environment where veterinarians have greater autonomy to make decisions based on what they believe is best for their patients.

How could there be a resurgence of independent veterinary practices?

Despite the rapid consolidation of the veterinary profession over the past decade, there are reasons to believe that independent practice ownership could experience a revival. What was once the norm has increasingly become a differentiator. Many pet owners actively seek out locally owned veterinary practices, valuing continuity of care, stronger relationships with their veterinary team, and the knowledge that important decisions are being made within their community rather than by a distant corporate office. As awareness of corporate ownership grows, independence itself is becoming a meaningful part of a practice’s identity.

At the same time, the consolidation wave has created a generation of veterinarians, technicians, and support staff who have experienced large corporate practice environments firsthand and are looking for alternatives. Advances in practice management software, telephony, scheduling, marketing, and cloud-based medical records have lowered many of the barriers to launching a new clinic. Financing may also become more accessible as investors and lenders increasingly recognize the underlying strength and resilience of veterinary medicine as a business. Combined with growing demand from pet owners for independent options, these trends could create fertile ground for a new generation of locally owned veterinary practices. The future of veterinary medicine does not have to be defined solely by consolidation; it may also include a resurgence of entrepreneurial veterinarians building practices that are deeply rooted in the communities they serve.

Being an independent veterinary practice is now a differentiator and something many conscientious pet owners seek out The wave of corporate consolidation has led to a cadre of vets, techs and staff who are burned out and looking for something new Pet parents are incraasingly voting with their feet and practice loyalty is diminished when continutity of care is lost A light regulatory environment makes it easy to start new clinics and software is enabling new practices to hit the ground running Corporate owners have demonstrated that veterinary practices can be financially attractive, which should make it easier for vets wanting to start their own finance their startup costs The US is ripe for a resurgence of local independent veterinary practices

What other resources are out there to find independent veterinary practices?

Why it’s never been a better time to start an independent practice

How can veterinarians sieze the opportunity to acquire or start an independent practice?