Access to pet care

A recent survey by Colorado State University found that 82% of Colorado pet owners consider their pets part of the family (CSU Animal-Human Policy Center, 2023). It is no wonder Colorado voters passed Proposition 129 to create a new veterinary professional associate (VPA) role. Similar to physician assistants in human medicine, VPAs will help expand the veterinary workforce, increasing capacity and access to care.

However, House Bill 25-1285 will overturn Proposition 129. This bill contradicts the will of the voters and would limit the role of VPAs by unnecessarily restricting their ability to provide veterinary care. This harms all pet owners, but would be particularly damaging in rural areas, where veterinary care is already scarce.

HB 1285 puts overly-restrictive barriers in place to make it extremely burdensome to hire, train and work with VPAs. Voters already created guardrails to ensure the safe integration of VPAs into veterinary medicine. This bill goes beyond that, allowing the government to dictate private business practices, controlling hiring, employment agreements and patient contracts.

I am an animal owner who has fostered over 100 animals. Too often, I see beloved animals relinquished or abandoned because veterinary care is out of reach. Proposition 129 was the first light at the end of a dark tunnel of scarce, expensive veterinary care and it is devastating to see it under attack. HB 1285 ignores the will of Colorado voters and restricts access to veterinary care. Join me in asking your legislator to vote no on House Bill 1285.

Michael Usrey

Broomfield

Not about free speech

Was it really necessary for Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, to bring her bigotry to the Supreme Court of the United States? Whatever happened to “live and let live” with regard to our fellow citizens? Conversion therapy has been deemed unethical and inhumane by physicians, so why is it imperative to be given the chance to practice it anyway? This is not a matter of free speech. It is one person’s religious beliefs trying to dominate the beliefs of the rest of society and to punish gay people for who they are.

As someone trained to be a therapist, Kaley should know better and have more compassion. Not everyone can fit into her mold of what constitutes “normal.” Perhaps she could concentrate on patients with real mental health needs who want to be helped.

Joan Sayre

Fort Collins

Meeting a sad mark

In the meeting between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 28, 2025, it was clear President Trump is not interested in helping Ukraine win this war, and that he is aligning himself with President Vladimir Putin, abandoning our allies who support democracy and freedom. Witnessing this meeting was one of the most harmful actions I’ve seen by an American President. I wonder what the people who died during World War II would say was the reason they fought the war. Was their reason to bully an ally, to emphasize that the President holds all the cards and works with President Putin to extort Ukraine? I think not.

Those brave people fought for our freedoms and the freedom of our allies. This meeting was a sad mark on our country and what we represent. I can no longer call our current President the leader of the free world.

I urge the Senate and House of Representatives to bring forth a Bill for military funding for Ukraine. A Bill would pressure our Senators and Representatives to take a stand in front of the American people on whether they support our democracy and those of our allies or whether they are aligning with Russia; to show the world that President Trump does not hold all the cards. I urge Congress to step up to defend democracy and the balance of powers of the three branches of our government.

Kathleen Hart

Littleton

Support for the military

Our newly minted Republican Congressman, Jeff Crank, boasts he is on the House Armed Services Committee. He also claims to be a supporter of military veterans and active-duty military.

The Gazette recently reported that Colorado’s Democratic Senators, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, signed a letter asking Republican Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to investigate the story from Military.com that alleged that money that was being deducted by the Defense Department from the paychecks of lower enlisted members for food was not being spent on food. That letter was also signed by seven Republicans.

The Gazette further reported that Senator Hickelooper, along with over 20 other members of Congress, sent a letter to President Trump demanding that he rehire the over 5,800 military veterans that Elon Musk’s DOGE had recently illegally fired.

Unfortunately, Crank did not sign either of those two letters. Crank’s support for the military is hollow. His support for Trump is firm.

Steve Waldmann

Monument