State report

State of Vet Care in Alabama

As of July 2026, Alabama has 574 veterinary practices tracked; 15.3% are corporately owned , led by Mission Pet Health with 18 in-state locations . 84.7% of practices remain independently owned , and 6.3% are actively hiring .

Key takeaways

  • 574 veterinary practices tracked in Alabama, of which 15.3% are corporately owned.
  • 12.2% of practices in Alabama are private-equity-backed.
  • Mission Pet Health (owned by Shore Capital Partners) leads all consolidators operating in the state with 18 locations.
  • General practices make up 90.6% of the state's practice mix.

Consolidation by city

At a glance

574
Practices tracked
84.7%
Independent
15.3%
Corporately owned
12.2%
PE-backed

6.3% of practices in Alabama are actively hiring.

Ownership breakdown in Alabama

Ownership type Practices Share
Independent 486 84.7%
PE-backed 70 12.2%
Corporate group 17 3.0%
National ownership-type breakdown, stacked by share Independent: 84.7% (486 practices) PE-backed: 12.2% (70 practices) Corporate group: 3.0% (17 practices) 85%12% Independent (84.7%) PE-backed (12.2%) Corporate group (3.0%)

Top consolidators operating in Alabama

Ranked by in-state locations. See the full national leaderboard on ownership & consolidation statistics.

# Group Ultimate owner In-state locations Share of corporate practices
1 Mission Pet Health Shore Capital Partners 18 20.5%
2 VetCor Harvest Partners (Strategic) 10 11.4%
3 Banfield Mars (Strategic) 10 11.4%
4 National Veterinary Associates JAB Holding Company (Strategic) 8 9.1%
5 PetVet Care Centers KKR (Strategic) 7 8.0%
6 American Veterinary Group Oak Hill Capital 6 6.8%
7 Heartland Veterinary Partners Gryphon Investors 5 5.7%
8 VCA Mars (Strategic) 4 4.5%
9 CareVet Compass Group Equity Partners (Private Equity) 4 4.5%
10 Alliance Animal Health LightBay & L Catterton 4 4.5%

Practice-type mix

Type Practices Share
General 520 90.6%
Specialty Referral 16 2.8%
Mobile 14 2.4%
Mixed 10 1.7%
Emergency 10 1.7%
Urgent Care 4 0.7%

Species mix

Segment Practices Share
Small Animal 474 82.6%
Mixed 90 15.7%
Equine 8 1.4%
Other 1 0.2%
Exotic 1 0.2%

Browse by city

Frequently asked questions

How many veterinary practices are in Alabama?

As of July 2026, VetPulse tracks 574 veterinary practices in Alabama.

What percentage of veterinary practices in Alabama are corporately owned?

15.3% of veterinary practices in Alabama are corporately owned — part of a consolidator, private-equity-backed group, or public company — while 84.7% remain independent.

Who is the largest veterinary consolidator in Alabama?

Mission Pet Health (owned by Shore Capital Partners) is the largest veterinary consolidator operating in Alabama, with 18 in-state locations.

What share of veterinary practices in Alabama are hiring?

6.3% of veterinary practices in Alabama are actively hiring, based on live job-signal data.

Every figure above is queried live from our practice-level dataset — see the methodology for how ownership is triangulated from multiple independent sources. Compare Alabama against every other state on the ownership & consolidation statistics page, or browse the rankings.