Thousands seek licensure as Minnesota vet tech law change now in effect

A recent law change officially recognizes and regulates licensed veterinary technicians in Minnesota. It’s a change that proponents say was a long time coming and should bring some much-needed recognition to those credentialed professionals as well as improve veterinary care in the state. ADVERTISEMENT The legislation enacted in 2024 and 2026 was a significant update to the Minnesota Veterinary Practice Act, bringing it closer in line with most other states. Effective July 1, 2026, only individuals licensed by the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine are allowed to use the title “veterinary technician” in Minnesota, and they are now formally titled “licensed veterinary technicians” or “LVTs.” All other medical support staff in veterinary practice are required to be referred to as veterinary assistants. This change gives pet owners, livestock producers and all Minnesotans a clear, reliable way to identify veterinary professionals who have met established standards for education, competency, and professional conduct. Two animal health veterans in the state are pleased to see the change after working toward this for years. That includes Kim Horne, a longtime member of the Minnesota Association of Veterinary Technicians as well as a member of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association Veterinary Technician Committee, and Dr. Allen Balay, chair of the MVMA’s Veterinary Technician Committee. Previously, anyone could call themselves a vet tech. Even though Horne graduated in 1980 from the University of Minnesota Vet Tech program, credentialing was not available until 1984, when MVMA offered a voluntary certified veterinary technician program. While CVTs met the criteria of graduating from a veterinary technology program and passing a national examination, many other individuals hired and trained on the job could also call themselves veterinary technicians, which was confusing for the public. “So previously, only the licensed veterinarian was defined in state law,” Horne said. “Everybody else was considered an unlicensed assistant. So we had the goals to be defined and have title protection because previously anybody was allowed to call themselves a veterinary technician regardless of if they had any formal education or any training at all. And so we wanted to better define the roles of the veterinary healthcare team so the public better understood who was doing what, who was working on their pets, and what that meant.” ADVERTISEMENT She became involved in that effort in the early 2000s. Horne explained that the driving forces that helped to bring this change involved the opioid crisis, veterinary staff shortages, career retention and providing title protection. There was previously a lack of reporting structures for opioid drug diversion by staff. For the veterinary tech industry, earning that title and being recognized for it were important. Not having that distinction clearly brought challenges for those veterinary clinics. There is added responsibility in this new law that could help retain staffing through both recognition, career advancement and potentially better pay. “The average career span of a veterinary technician from national surveys had decreased to about a four-year time period, and so we really wanted to keep experienced technicians in the field longer and also provide them with some additional duties that they were legally able to do that could help improve the efficiency of veterinary practice,” Horne said. The law change allows veterinarians like Balay to give more independence to vet techs, something he was used to while working in Michigan. When he moved here in 1995, he was amazed that Minnesota would be slow to advance this law. The change means those licensed technicians can perform follow-up tasks such as blood draws and administering injections under remote veterinarian supervision. It also allows for the licensed veterinary technician to provide supervision of unlicensed staff, meaning a veterinarian no longer needs to be in constant visual or audible range of all staff tasks. This can take some pressure off the veterinarian. It could also take some pressure off the rural veterinarian shortage. ADVERTISEMENT “This isn't going to solve the shortage, but it has the potential — if veterinarians can learn to better utilize their licensed technician — it has the potential to help keep our sanity, keep us in the career field a little bit longer, because again they can work remotely,” Balay said. “They can't do the diagnosis, they can't do the surgery, but they could certainly do follow-up work.” It’s a move that both said will be better for animals in Minnesota and better for veterinary medicine. And while it may be hard to show how much of an impact this law change is already having on animal health, it’s clearly being recognized as worthwhile in the animal care community. Over 3,000 have already applied for licensure, and as of Aug. 17, 2,494 active licenses have been processed. “So that tells me that there's going to be those individuals who, for whatever reason they never got certified,” Balay said. “But now they want to get licensed. So hopefully, it's going to help. One of our drivers was trying to retain and keep more veterinary technicians in the career field. We're excited about those numbers.” Important to this law was the inclusion of a grandfather clause that allows individuals with the equivalent of two years of full-time experience, within the past five years, to apply for licensure through 2031 via affidavits from veterinarians. Also important is that licensed individuals must complete continuing education to maintain their status. Moving this work forward was a full-time job and has turned out to be something they can hang their hats on. To be the first to be licensed under this new law was the cherry on top for Horne. “It felt incredible to have that honor of being given the very first license; it really … warmed my heart to know that I kind of feel like I'm leaving a legacy. You know, this was my purpose in life then, so it's very nice to see it,” Horne said. ADVERTISEMENT More information about veterinary technician licensure can be found at the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine at mn.gov/boards/veterinary-medicine.