Daily Press Writer
MONTROSE — Animal massage therapists, dentists, farriers, breeders and other service providers in Colorado operating outside of direct veterinary supervision could face legal repercussions because of legislation in the Colorado Veterinary Practice Act.
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“I think we all kind of had mixed feelings about it,” Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, said. “They made some good points, and I think they’ll probably come back.”
Isgar voted against the bill. He said the bill’s supporters needed to work out more of the issues with the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine.
“The senators thought it was just a bit too broadly worded,” said Lisa Speaker, president of the Colorado Alliance for Animal Owner’s Rights. “They want to try and make something happen to make everybody happy.”
Speaker began actively pursuing the issue when a massage therapist friend received a warning letter from the Board of Veterinary Medicine stating she was to be under direct veterinary supervision when handling an animal.
“Unfortunately, the animals she was working on no longer receive that service,” Speaker said. “I tried to find common ground but they (the board) would not negotiate.”
A first offense could result in a misdemeanor sentence of three months in jail and a $250 to $1,000 fine, with a second resulting in a felony and up to a year in prison, she said.
The Colorado Veterinary Medical Association tracked and was opposed to the bill. In addition, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Colorado Association of Certified Veterinary Technicians, the Colorado Department of Agriculture and the Colorado Livestock Association opposed the bill, according to the CVMA Web site.
“(The bill) only serves to bypass accurate diagnosis by allowing an animal owner to go anywhere for treatment by lay practitioners,” Dr. Stacy Hudelson said in testimony before the committee Thursday. “These people are not trained to detect diseases that can harm the animal, may be communicable, and may pose threats to the health of other animals and to humans.”
Hudelson is a mixed animal practitioner and president of the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association.
“The fact that anyone, often with very limited education, and possibly no hands-on experience with animals, would be provided the opportunity to potentially harm animals — to take advantage of what is often a person’s intense emotional feeling towards their animals — is appalling to me,” she said.
But even the current legislation has some odd stipulations. Its wording maintains that animal husbandry is acceptable, but any practices beyond that without supervision could result in penalties, Speaker said.
“So I could send my 16-year-old nephew out to castrate your bull but not give it a massage,” she said.
Dr. Susan Raymond is a veterinarian practicing on large and small animals in Hotchkiss. She has 25 years of experience and also practices equine dentistry and reproduction.
“There have been schools where the layperson can go and learn how to do these things. If they’re good at it, we should just let them. We are not a jack of all trades,” Raymond said.
She said the only time she would be concerned about one of these people working with animals would be if they were trying to administer anesthetics or tranquilizers.
“There’s definitely room for some of these people, and what happens is I think some of these vets think they’re encroaching on their livelihood,” she said.
In other news, the Colorado Senate recently passed a bill allowing licensed physical therapists to work on animals. The therapists must be under the directive of a veterinarian and the two may cooperate to devise the treatment plan.
“If there’s a bad result, it’s the fault of either and you can go to their licensing board,” Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Fort Collins, said.
He said some concern regarding the Animal Owner Choice of Care bill stems from the fact it would allow unlicensed therapists to work on the animals without the supervision of a licensed professional.
Isgar said that because there is growing interest in alternative care for animals as well as people, there is hope for a derivative of the bill being approved. There just needs to be more communication with the bill’s supporters and the CMVA to ensure animals and people are not put in unnecessary danger.
Contact Robert Allen via e-mail at roberta@montrosepress.com
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