Independent Vet List Methodology

Our goal is to make the most complete and trustable list of independently owned veterinary practices.

How the List Is Built

We started by building a list of veterinary practices in the United States, checking that source list for accuracy and completeness.

We then subtract all practices listed on Private Equity Vet from the list. The remaining practices are treated as potential but unverified, independent practices.

Every time a practice is verified and added to or removed from Private Equity Vet, we perform the opposite action on Independent Vet.

Map and ZIP Search Data

The map uses OpenStreetMap map data. Its required attribution is displayed directly on the map.

Five-digit ZIP searches use coordinates derived from the GeoNames Postal Code Data, which is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. We transform the source data into a compact ZIP-to-centroid lookup that centers the map on the approximate ZIP-code area without filtering practice markers.

How Do We Define Independent?

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. We also consider local non-profit organizations to be independent from corporate interests. In contrast, we do not consider practices owned by private equity firms (in part, or in totality), 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, are not always transparent from the outside and do not always fit neatly into a single category. For this reason, we try to make a fair judgement of 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.

How We Verify Independence

In as many geographies as possible, we individually review practices and verify independent status where we can.

We verify this by:

  1. Reviewing practice websites, state filings and social media to determine whether they publicly meet our criteria for being independent.
  2. Reviewing submissions from the community and/or practice owners to confirm they meet our criteria for being independent.
  3. In some cases, reaching out to the practice to ask about its independent status.

If you own an independent practice, we highly recommend you explictly state it on your website - not only does this make verification much easier but it is what many customers are specifically looking for.

Practices that are verified independent are marked as Verified Independent, along with the date they were last verified.

For practices that are proudly independent, we allow them to supply a link to a page on their website that highlights their independent status and their commitment to high-quality, high-value veterinary care.

How You Can Help

We rely on your contributions to add newly opened independent practices to the list and to crowdsource help with verification. The best way is to click on existing map locations that are unverified and complete the verification form. If the practice is truly missing from the map you can Add a Practice.

What’s Next

Independent Vet currently focuses on veterinary practices in the United States. We are continuing to improve US coverage, verification, data quality, and map performance; the directory is not currently intended for use outside the United States.

Limitations and Data Quality

Building this list started with a painstaking process of reviewing practice websites, state or county registries where available, and other public sources for signals of independent ownership. All practices are cross-referenced against the Private Equity Vet list before they are verified independent. We launched with a small but meaningful dataset and now rely heavily on reports from pet owners, veterinarians, and practice owners.

Each report is individually reviewed with the assistance of a frontier AI model and human oversight. Even with this process, the data may not always be complete or current: public records rarely disclose actual ownership, ownership structures can be complex, and practice websites may not reflect recent changes. We encourage visitors to confirm ownership directly with a practice when it matters to their decision. If you notice an error or have more current information, please contact us.

Acknowledgements

Independent Vet is made possible by technologies and communities we are grateful to use: