03/30/2026
My open letter to the board:
March 30, 2026
Re: To the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, Texas veterinarians, and Texas animal owners,
Recent proposed amendments to the Texas Veterinary Practice Act have raised serious concerns among many of us who provide and rely on animal chiropractic care in this state.
As written, the proposed rule changes would require veterinarians—many of whom have not received training in animal chiropractic—to determine the specific spinal segments that a chiropractor may adjust on an animal. In practice, this requirement would make it nearly impossible for licensed chiropractors who are properly trained in animal chiropractic to continue providing care independently, effectively limiting access to this care for animals across Texas.
For many animal owners, obtaining a veterinary referral has already been a hurdle. However, the proposed rule would go much further. It would place the responsibility for directing specific chiropractic treatment on veterinarians who, in most cases, have not received formal chiropractic training as part of their veterinary education.
This situation raises an important question:
Is it reasonable—or fair—to require veterinarians to direct a specialized form of care in which they may have little or no training?
Veterinarians are extraordinary professionals who already carry tremendous responsibility for the medical care of animals. Their training focuses on veterinary medicine, surgery, pharmacology, and diagnostics. Chiropractic, however, is a distinct discipline with its own extensive training, clinical methods, and post-graduate certification pathways.
In fact, the field of animal chiropractic exists today largely because Doctors of Chiropractic and veterinarians spent decades working collaboratively to develop the techniques, training programs, and certification pathways that allow both professions to safely and correctly provide this care. The advancement of animal chiropractic would not have been possible without the active participation and expertise of Doctors of Chiropractic in those efforts.
Many veterinarians who practice animal chiropractic today received most of their training through programs developed and taught in collaboration with chiropractors. This long-standing partnership between the two professions has been foundational to the growth and legitimacy of animal chiropractic.
It is precisely this collaborative relationship—between veterinarians and chiropractors—that has shaped the animal chiropractic profession into what it is today.
For years, veterinarians and chiropractors with advanced animal chiropractic training have worked collaboratively to serve animals throughout Texas. This partnership has allowed owners to access specialized care while maintaining veterinary oversight and medical coordination when needed.
Unfortunately, the current proposal risks disrupting that collaborative model rather than strengthening it.
Many veterinarians have already expressed discomfort signing referral forms for treatments outside their direct area of expertise, not because they oppose chiropractic care, but because they do not want to assume liability for a form of care they have not personally trained in. Requiring those same veterinarians to now prescribe the exact chiropractic adjustment locations would only increase that burden.
At the same time, animal owners across Texas depend on timely access to qualified professionals for chiropractic care—particularly for working animals, performance animals, and animals recovering from injury.
If these rules are implemented as currently proposed, access to this care could become extremely limited.
It is understandable that the Board wishes to address the growing number of untrained individuals attempting to provide animal chiropractic services without proper education or licensure. That concern is legitimate and shared by responsible professionals in both veterinary and chiropractic fields.
However, the solution should not unintentionally eliminate access to care provided by properly trained and licensed professionals.
Instead, Texas should consider solutions that recognize the collaborative history of this field, such as:
• Recognizing advanced post-graduate certification in animal chiropractic for both veterinarians and chiropractors
• Establishing clear credentialing standards for those providing animal chiropractic services
• Creating regulatory structures that protect animals from unqualified practitioners without restricting access to properly trained providers
Texas has long benefited from a cooperative relationship between veterinarians and chiropractors trained in animal chiropractic. Protecting that collaboration—while strengthening standards—would better serve veterinarians, chiropractors, and most importantly, the animals entrusted to our care.
For animal owners who value access to animal chiropractic care, and for veterinarians who support maintaining responsible collaboration between professions, now is the time to review the proposed language and make your voices heard.
Thoughtful input from both professionals and the public can help ensure that any regulatory changes improve animal welfare while preserving access to qualified care.
Respectfully,
Dr. Becky McGill, DC, cAVCA
Texas Chiropractor
