NATIONAL REPORT— State licensing boards are waging war against lay persons performing veterinary medicine, but with attorneys unwilling to
prosecute and little means of enforcement, the problem continues to grow, officials say.
So much so that in November, an Oklahoma law went into effect making it a felony to practice veterinary medicine without a
license.
State Rep. Brian Renegar, D-Okla. authored the bill because horses have died from improper sedation during teeth floating,
but says most district attorneys wouldn't touch the case when it was a misdemeanor. "With it being a felony now, they can't turn it down," he says. "Horses in the state of Oklahoma will be a lot safer than
they were before." But equine dentistry is just one area of a nationwide issue. Some believe lay persons are pushing the boundary by offering
therapeutic massage, reproductive and chiropractic services and acupuncture. Veterinary boards are reacting accordingly.
Some other key developments:
» The Texas veterinary board is tangled in lawsuits with lay persons fighting for the right to float teeth.
» The Maryland board is being sued by a woman wanting to conduct therapeutic massage for horses.
» Virginia changed its licensing laws allowing lay persons to float teeth, as long as power tools are not used.
» The state of Washington now allows non-veterinarians to massage horses, but only after they complete 300 hours of training.
» Physical therapists and massage therapists in Colorado gained permission to work on animals in July, after the state veterinary
board established regulations for the practice.
» Human chiropractors in Oklahoma are able to manipulate animals, if they receive the proper training, but fewer than 20 have
done so.
» Idaho is trying to stop non-veterinarians from traveling to farms offering reproductive services, but authorities are
not interested in prosecuting.
Renegar, who is a veterinarian, says the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs asked him to carry the bill, which
ultimately makes it a felony to practice veterinary, osteopathic and human medicine, as well as dentistry, without a license.
Other states remain entrenched in lawsuits over encroachment into veterinary practice, while others are looking at licensing
regulations.
Showdown in the Legislature: State Rep. Brian Renegar, D-Okla., pushed legislation making it a felony to practice veterinary
medicine without a license.
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"It's a hot issue all right," says Gregory M. Dennis, legal counsel for the Kansas Veterinary Medical Association (KVMA) and
the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) and a charter member of the American Veterinary Medical Law Association
(AVMLA.)
"There have always been characters around doing these things, but now we're seeing more and more horrific damage done
to animals by people who have no idea what they are doing."
Although the practice has been around as long as licensing itself, the issue became a hot button topic in the 1990s in Maryland.
When Maryland amended its laws regarding acupuncture, it took out the word "human" before "body" and opened the door for
anyone licensed to perform acupuncture to do so on humans and animals.
"I know there is a thing about saving a buck, but frankly the cost of saving a buck can be quite expensive," Dennis says.
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