A ballot measure to create a new position to work at animal shelters and veterinary clinics appears set to pass based on preliminary results Tuesday evening.

As of 11 p.m. Tuesday, Proposition 129 had emerged victorious with 52 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed. The position would be the first of its kind in the country.

Currently, Colorado veterinary practices employ veterinarians with at least eight years of training and veterinary technicians with a two-year associate's degree.

The measure would create a new middle position between the two, called Veterinary Professional Associate (VPA). The position would require a master's degree in veterinary clinical nursing and would be authorized to diagnose animals, perform routine surgeries, and order and perform tests and procedures under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.

Under current Colorado law, only veterinarians are allowed to perform these duties.

The measure divided vets and stymied many voters when it came time to mark their ballots.

“I was thinking about the medical professions… We have physician assistants, we have nurse practitioners that are kind of a middle ground between doctors and nurse practitioners, so I felt like that made sense for veterinarians and veterinary technicians as well,” said a Denver voter named Angela, who declined to provide her last name for privacy reasons.

Other voters said the position felt duplicitous.

“They (veterinarians and veterinary technicians) are already professionals. Why add another layer to the onion? It just didn’t make sense to me,” said voter Jack Stevens.

A coalition of animal rights groups and some veterinarians argued that the measure would ease Colorado's severe veterinary shortage and reduce the cost of veterinary care. Opponents, including professional associations of veterinarians and veterinary technicians, warned that VPAs would be allowed to do more than their training merits.

“There is no evidence that the VPA role will reduce the cost of veterinary care,” said Dr. Jennifer Bolser, a veterinarian. “Instead, pet owners are paying the same for a less trained person trying to diagnose and perform surgery…We don't want animals to suffer from substandard care.”

Advocates argued that the veterinarian shortage is having a particularly big impact on animal shelters, animal rescues and nonprofit veterinary clinics. A Colorado State University survey of veterinarians found that 70 percent turn away animals because of staffing shortages. Advocates said 20 percent of Coloradans live in a “veterinary medicine desert.”

“Animals across the state suffer from a lack of veterinary resources, particularly in rural and disadvantaged communities,” said Dr. Apryl Steele, CEO of the Dumb Friends League.

The issue was Colorado's fifth costliest ballot measure this year. The measure's backers, All Pets Deserve Vet Care, raised nearly $1.5 million and spent $1.3 million as of Oct. 28, with their largest donations coming from the Dumb Friends League and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals came. Gov. Jared Polis donated $2,500 to the campaign.

The Keep Our Pets Safe coalition opposing the measure raised and spent about $1.5 million, with the American Veterinary Medical Association the largest donor.

If the measure passes, what's next?

The Associated Press had not yet officially called Prop. 129 as of late Tuesday night, but its lead appears pretty insurmountable.

The proposal would create a new state license for this intermediate veterinary position. The State Board of Veterinary Medicine would issue rules regarding the specific qualifications and tests required.

Colorado State University is already in the process of establishing a master's degree program in clinical veterinary medicine. The plan is to graduate the first class of veterinary assistants in 2027, regardless of whether the initiative comes into force.

The program is designed for both veterinary professionals seeking further training, those who qualified for veterinary school but were not accepted into a program, and immigrants who were licensed veterinarians in their home country.

It would require five semesters of specialized training specifically for cats and dogs, culminating in an internship providing routine veterinary care in a practice under the strict supervision of a veterinarian. According to CSU, the program requires a similar number of preclinical surgical training hours as veterinarians and three times the training hours in dental surgical training.

The measure would create a nationally recognized certification organization for veterinary professionals that would issue certifications once they pass a national exam.