Hello, I’m a veterinary technician in Washington DC, where licensing is not required to be a veterinary technician or to do many of the tasks necessary to ensure proper care of our patients. I do understand that licensing is the goal. On the other hand, I do believe and have seen that due to proper on-the-job education, training and supervision, some of the best veterinary technicians that I have encountered are not even licensed. Not to mention, not everyone has the resources to (or has the time and opportunity to) go through a licensing program, which usually at some point requires travel and volunteer time far away from home to farms and other facilities not immediately accessible to everyone. Helping patients with very basic tasks such as placing a catheter should not be a privilege when there are people that are perfectly capable of doing so that are unlicensed, like myself. 

thank you