Petco Love Launches New Nonprofit Veterinary Technician Scholarship Fund

Nonprofit Survey Finds Veterinary Services Shortage Seriously Impacting Pets Most in Need

SAN ANTONIO, March 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) shortage has become a significant hurdle in ensuring that pets most in need receive the attention and care they deserve. Petco Love, a national nonprofit organization, is taking a proactive approach to tackle this issue by launching the Petco Love Registered Veterinary Technician Scholarship Fund with Penn Foster, an innovative online learning provider. This scholarship fund aims to address the growing concerns surrounding lack of access to care by increasing the number of registered veterinary technicians serving the most vulnerable pets, those at animal shelters, and those whose pet parents struggle financially.

As pet ownership continues to rise, so does the demand for veterinary care resulting in a shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians. Petco Love initiated a study to assess this veterinary workforce shortage and its impact on nonprofit and municipal organizations providing services to shelter pets and pets whose pet parents struggle to afford care. The result: approximately three-quarters of shelters and low-cost clinics reported a shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians, leading to delays in preventive healthcare, spay/neuter, and treatment of sick and injured pets. Almost 70% of animal shelters reported that pets were waiting longer to receive veterinary care, with spay neuter bottlenecks impacting organizational efficiency as 60% of organizations reported more than 50 animals awaiting surgery. 80% of nonprofit affordable clinics serving owned pets in the community by providing wellness exams, spay/neuter, and other veterinary care reported delays of one to six months for appointments.  The full study is published in "The nonprofit veterinarian shortage: who will care for the pets most in need?"¹.

"The survey results are a wakeup call. Nonprofits and municipal organizations serving pets that often have no other option are in crisis as the rising costs of hiring and retaining veterinarians and technicians make it difficult, and in some cases prohibitive, to maintain adequate staffing," said Petco Love President, Susanne Kogut. "Without proper staffing, shelters can't effectively manage shelter pet intake and the entire system breaks down, resulting in greater euthanasia of shelter pets. Further, respondents expressed their concerns that the rising costs of veterinary care forces nonprofits and municipal organizations into the role of providing accessible and affordable vet care to the community. But with the significant veterinary and technician shortage, some organizations expressed concern that we are failing the pets and pet parents who need us most."

The Petco Love RVT Scholarship Fund at Penn Foster bridges the gap in the nonprofit veterinary workforce shortage by supporting approximately 100 candidates currently working in animal welfare organizations who aspire to become credentialed veterinary technicians. Applications for a scholarship will be made by the nonprofit or municipal animal sheltering organizations or veterinary clinics to Petco Love. Organizations that are selected to receive a scholarship will select a student currently working or volunteering with their organization to participate. After finishing the program, associates will be eligible to sit for the Veterinary Technician National Examination ("VTNE"). The program helps alleviate the shortage by providing an influx of newly credentialed veterinary technicians, who agree to continue working in the field while taking the course and for at least two years after certification.

"It's exciting when career advancement and passion go hand-in-hand — that's why we are excited to partner with Petco Love and offer the animal welfare community educational and training support through this scholarship program," stated Penn Foster General Manager, Stacy Caldwell. "Penn Foster's online Veterinary Technician Associate Degree program has full accreditation with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), meaning that learners can pursue a veterinary technician career after passing the VTNE. Improving accessible care for all pets starts with training their caretakers."

Other Petco Love efforts designed to address the veterinary shortage include investing in the University of Florida Shelter Medicine program to increase the number of shelter veterinarians nationwide² and partnering with Louisiana State University to establish the community outreach veterinarian program to address access to veterinary care in the Baton Rouge community³.  To learn more about Petco Love, visit petcolove.org.

About Petco Love
Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we've empowered animal welfare organizations by investing $375 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We've helped find loving homes for more than 6.75 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Is love calling you? Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we lead every day.

About Penn Foster Group
At Penn Foster Group, we are transforming online learning to help learners by bringing together Penn Foster, CareerStep, Ashworth College, James Madison High School, the New York Institute of Photography, the New York Institute of Art and Design, and other education platforms. Together, we create an accelerated path to greater economic mobility through real-world skills and knowledge that enable them to achieve long-term success in the workplaces of the future. Our history dates back to 1890 when our founder, Thomas Foster, pioneered distance education by offering training by mail for coal miners to get the necessary skills for safer jobs. Today, with the partners who use our education and training programs, we continue that mission of providing accessible training and education for in-demand skills and are building a workforce that's prepared for the future job market.

¹ Susanne Kogut, Meredith L. Montgomery, Julie K. Levy. The nonprofit veterinarian shortage: who will care for the pets most in need? February 2, 2024, PREPRINT available at Research Square.
² https://petcolove.org/newsroom/news-story/national-nonprofit-petco-love-invests-in-uf-shelter-medicine-program-to
³ https://www.lsu.edu/vetmed/news/2024/petco_love_community_outreach.php

Contact: Crystal Bugary, Petco Love, [email protected] 

SOURCE Petco Love