Acupuncturists gain HOD representation

The American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture is now a member of the AVMA House of Delegates.

Delegates voted during their regular winter session in January to add the acupuncturists’ organization, with 97 percent of the vote in favor of the addition.

Dr. Ken Ninomiya, president of the AAVA, said leaders in his organization had discussed qualifying for HOD representation at least since 2004, and the AAVA met the membership requirements during 2012.

“We would really like to contribute and have a voice for our members in some of the topics that come up,” he said.

Dr. Ninomiya cited as an example the HOD’s consideration in recent years of resolutions on cosmetic tail docking and ear cropping of dogs. He thinks the AAVA can have more impact through membership in the HOD than through submission of comments by individual members.

Allied organizations applying for HOD membership need to meet criteria that include having a national scope of operation and representing a broad field of veterinary activity. At least 90 percent of the applicant organization’s members must be voting members of the AVMA, and those voting members need to comprise at least 1 percent of the AVMA’s overall membership.

Documents provided to delegates indicate 843 of the AAVA’s 903 members were AVMA members as of May 2013, exceeding the required minimum of 840 members.