AVMA bill tracking

According to the AVMA website year end report, there were over 90,000 bills introduced with more than 30,000 adopted over the course of 2010. The AVMA Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Department tracked and sent over 1200 bills related to the practice of veterinary medicine to state veterinary medical associations.

Several veterinarians sought state legislative offices in the 2010 elections. Four veterinarians in North Carolina, New York, Wisconsin and Wyoming were elected to state office for the first time. Two veterinarians in Missouri and New Hampshire moved from the House to the Senate in their state legislatures and eight veterinarians were re-elected in Georgia, Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington. Overall, 22 veterinarians will serve in state legislatures and two in Congress in 2011.

States dealt with a wide variety of animal welfare issues both for domestic animals and for animals used for agricultural purposes. Issues ranged from tethering, devocalization, animal hoarding, pet protection orders, pet trusts, and breeder regulation to equine teeth floating and livestock reproductive services.

The report notes that Tennessee adopted new exemptions from the practice of veterinary medicine for embryo removal and manual procedures for testing of pregnancy in bovine animals when performed by a farmer who is not compensated and the results are for the owner's use only. New Hampshire adopted a bill giving the Board of Veterinary Medicine jurisdiction over physical therapists practicing on animals.

The AVMA State Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Department Year End Summary is posted online, sorted by topic.