Independent Practice
A veterinary practice that is owner-operated and not part of a corporate group.
Definition
An independent practice is owned and typically run day-to-day by one or a small number of practicing veterinarians, rather than by a consolidator, PE-backed group, or public company. Independent owners set their own pricing, staffing, and clinical standards without a parent company's corporate policies. Independent status doesn't preclude scale — some independent owners run several locations — but the defining trait is that ownership stays with the operators rather than an outside investor.
Why it matters in veterinary consolidation
Independent practices are the historical baseline of the veterinary profession and remain the largest single ownership category nationally, even as their share shrinks year over year. The rate at which independents sell to consolidators — and which states and specialties are holding out longest — is one of the clearest signals of where consolidation pressure is highest.
Related pages
This is an editorial definition maintained by VetPulse. Where we reference specific practices or ownership groups, that information is triangulated from multiple independent sources — see the methodology for details. Back to the full glossary.