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Posted 17 April 2007
View legislative update (PDF)
Governors across the country continue to sign into law bills that impact veterinary medicine. Among this month's highlights:
- Idaho legislation was adopted to prohibit Internet hunting.
- Kentucky became the first state to adopt the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act, protecting out-of-state veterinarians who volunteer their services during an emergency. Gov. Fletcher also signed a bill requiring permits and certification for out-of-state pharmacies operating in Kentucky.
- North Dakota joined the growing list of states authorizing trusts to care for animals.
- Newly signed bills in Virginia regulate equine dental technicians under the Board of Veterinary Medicine, and call for an emergency response plan to address the needs of animals.
A Colorado bill proposing a broad exemption from the Veterinary Practice Act for persons who provide care to animals with the owner's consent, but without veterinary supervision, was defeated in committee and is dead in its current form for the session. Meanwhile, language in a Nevada measure allowing mental anguish, emotional distress, loss of companionship and other non-economic damages for injury or death to a pet was removed in committee.
Our nation's courtrooms again were busy with animal-related lawsuits. A federal appeals court on March 28th blocked the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) from providing horse meat inspections. Congress stripped federal funding for horses slaughtered for human consumption in 2005, but the USDA had provided the inspections for a fee. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found the USDA did not follow federal procedures for setting up the inspection fee program and was in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to conduct an environmental impact review. As a result of the ruling, the USDA pulled its on-site inspectors from the Cavel plant in DeKalb, Ill, effectively shutting down the last remaining plant in the U.S. that processed horse meat for human consumption overseas. Two hundred horses were turned away there the next day and sent back to their farms of origin. An appeal of the ruling is expected.
On April 2nd, the Humane Society of the United States filed a legal petition against the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, seeking stricter guidelines for veterinarians conducting health inspections of dogs sold in pet stores. Florida's Pet Lemon Law requires that any puppy must be inspected and certified as healthy by a veterinarian before sale. The petition alleges that some veterinarians accept records provided by breeders without verifying the information, and certificates verifying the absence of parasites are issued without adequate testing. The agency insists that it does not have authority to regulate pet shops, and the petition asks the state to adopt clear rules for pre-sale inspections.
The following link takes you to the latest chart of significant pending bills and regulations from around the country. Thank you for keeping AVMA informed about developments in your state, and please contact us if we can assist you with your advocacy efforts.
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