Proposed Veterinary Rehabilitation Regulations – We Need Your Support!

On September 10, 2015 the California Veterinary Medical Board will be holding a hearing to present and discuss the proposed regulations that will govern those of us who provide physical rehabilitation to our veterinary patients. The proposed wording of the regulations designates Veterinarians, Registered Veterinary Technicians and Physical Therapists as the only professionals who can perform therapies involved in physical rehabilitation. In addition, the regulations require a veterinarian to be on the premises when the therapies are provided. This is defined as direct supervision.

After more than 14 years of providing physical rehabilitation therapies to our patients, we believe that these regulations are appropriate and provide for the safe and professional care of your pet. We support the proposed regulations as they are written.

There are some individuals who feel it is not necessary to have a veterinarian on the premises when your pet is receiving therapy, and as such, these individuals will be objecting to the wording of the proposed regulations. This could mean if your pet needs to have his medications adjusted, medical care provided or has an emergency while receiving physical rehabilitation therapy, a Veterinarian would not be there to help. We do not feel that this meets the standard of care you should expect and your pet deserves.

We are asking for you help and support in notifying the California Veterinary Medical Board that it is important to your pet’s safety to have his or her care overseen by a veterinarian while receiving physical rehabilitation.

There are a number of ways to support the proposed regulations:

1) We are presenting a packet of letters to the Veterinary Medical Board and would be happy to
include a letter from you in our packet. I will be sending it on September 3, 2015.

2) You can also send a letter directly to:

Elizabeth Bynum
California Veterinary Medical Board
1747 N Market Blvd
Suite 230
Sacramento, CA. 95834-2987

3) You could also send an email of support with Animal Rehabilitation Regulations in the subject line to: Elizabeth.Bynum@dca.ca.gov

4)  You can read and sign this petition as a show of support (copy and paste the link into your browser):  www.ipetitions.com/petition/california-veterinary-physical-rehabilitation

5) A final way to express your support would be to attend the meeting and share your thoughts in person. It will be held in Sacramento September 10th at 9 am and a large attendance is expected.

Thank you for your support of our work in providing the best standard of care for your pet.