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Marysville,
Ohio
614/774-3472
wewoof@pawsitiveenergy.com
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For
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Ohio
House Bill 458
May 21, 2007
Lori Stewart Price
15649 Myers Road
Marysville, Ohio 43040
Representative
Tony Core
Ohio House of Representatives
77 S. High St, 11th floor
Columbus, OH 43215
Dear Representative Core:
I
write today to ask for your help in revising the new law regarding the practice
of veterinary medicine that you sponsored last General Assembly, House Bill 458.
I’ve been a student and an advocate of holistic care for animals for many
years and now own a small business that is an extension of those interests and
philosophy. We’ve taken the principals of holistic care and applied them
to a boarding and day care facility, and created something that is truly unique.
We’ve seen that, in the five years since the business came to be, there is
a growing awareness of and interest in this more natural, holistic way of caring
for our animal companions, and people are seeking us out as an alternative to
traditional boarding facilities.
Our business funds a fairly extensive
rescue effort, providing for the care of the sixty plus animals that live here.
I’ve always maintained that the only way we’re able to afford to take
care of this many animals is that we use primarily holistic methods. Our clients
see the success we’ve had, and become interested in using holistic methods
for their own animals. Unfortunately, there are very few truly holistic veterinary
practitioners in this part of the state, so I get a lot of questions from people
looking for advice on how to deal with their animals’ various health issues.
With the recent dog and cat food recall, many people are very concerned
about the quality of their animals’ food and our business is fielding many
questions on how to interpret the ingredient lists provided by the animal food
companies. Now that House Bill 458 (HB 458) is in effect, it is illegal for me
to simply recommend a natural or home prepared food or suggest an easy way to
clean teeth.
HB
458 also makes it illegal for me to continue offering massage to the dogs who
stay with us, or to otherwise do anything that could be construed as “diagnos(ing),
prevent(ing), or treat(ing) any disease, illness, deformity, pain, defect, injury
or any other physical, mental, or dental condition of any animal.” It’s
obviously essential that any boarding facility does operate in a way that will
prevent illness, disease, pain, injury and other types of physical and mental
conditions, and that doing so is not “the practice of veterinary medicine.”
In fact, the way the bill is written makes most of what any horse or dog trainer,
farrier, behaviorist, dog sitter, groomer – pretty much anyone who has any
interaction with any animal – does fall into the category of “the practice
of veterinary medicine,” and subject to legal action at the whim of anyone
who would decide to use the law against them.
In addition to the restraints
the new law places on my business, it also eliminates my choice to work with holistic
practitioners who are not veterinarians for my own animals.
Holistic treatments are generally very time consuming, since they don’t deal with “disease” but rather with the physical and mental state of the individual animal. Because of the time involved in providing these services, there is no economic incentive for allopathic veterinarians to provide such services; therefore most allopathic veterinarians do not provide the sort of services I choose. For example, most equine vets do not want to practice dentistry, so that leaves me very few choices for finding someone to work on my horses’ teeth - though I know it is a very important part of their overall health and can lead to a number of different health issues if left unattended. I know of very few veterinarians who offer massage, classical homeopathy, nutritional consultations, NAET, or Reiki as treatment options. Eliminating the lay practitioner’s ability to offer those modalities means my treatment options are limited to things I believe may not be beneficial for my animals. Additionally, the bill sets up a scenario when a veterinarian who spends a weekend at a massage or acupuncture seminar may practice those modalities, while the person who has spent years in the study of the techniques and is far better qualified to practice, is prohibited from doing so.
Since veterinarians have extensive training and education, there are certainly things for which they are more qualified and should only be allowed to provide such as prescribing medicine, performing surgery and the like. However, the new law goes beyond simple common sense, it severely restricts not only my ability to choose what it appropriate for my animals but also my ability to share my experiences with others. I sincerely hope that these are unintended consequences of HB 458 and that you will consider revising the law to restore my ability to choose what is and is not beneficial to my animals.
Sincerely,
Lori Price
Lori Stewart Price
Pawsitive Energy
614/774-3472
www.pawsitiveenergy.com
The Spay/Neuter Incentive Project and Sanctuary
www.snips.8m.com
