I remember when acupuncture was introduced in a big way to American human medicine back in the 1970s. It was a strange concept, full of energy fields and Chi, focusing on painless surgery performed without anesthesia. It made for fascinating television viewing, but was easy to dismiss as voodoo medicine.

But in the last few decades, supporters of acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathic, and holistic medicine for both human and veterinary applications strove to organize and define professional standards for these modalities, to shed themselves of perceived do-all, cure-all representations, and to initiate continuing education and certification for their membership. They’ve focused and refined themselves, providing narrower, but more complete, definitions and guidelines as to how their type of medicine can aid healing. Instead of competing head-to-head with traditional Western medical concepts, they now serve as complements.

In fact, much of alternative medicine now borders–if it hasn’t already crossed the line into–the land known as mainstream medicine. According to an article by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA–"What’s Your Alternative?" www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/sep00/s091500b.aspx), 42% of animal owners utilized alternative therapies in 1997, 31% of American Animal Hospital Association members used alternative therapies in 1999, and 60% of veterinary medical colleges now offer courses on alternative medical therapies.

None of this would have been achieved without the formation of alternative professional veterinary organizations