The House today approved a bill to allow veterinarians to transport and dispense important drugs for veterinary care in remote situations outside of their registered location, ensuring that animals will not be denied critical medical services at farms, sanctuaries, spay and neuter clinics, animal cruelty and fighting crime scenes, and emergency shelters during natural disasters. H.R. 1528, the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act, sponsored by Reps. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., and Ted Yoho, R-Fla.—the only two veterinarians serving in Congress—passed the House by voice vote. An identical bill, S. 1171, sponsored by Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Angus King, I-Maine, was unanimously approved by the Senate in January. Although the House and Senate have both acted, one of the bills will need to go through both chambers for this legislation to be enacted into law.
The animal protection community, among others, relies on mobile and ambulatory veterinarians to provide a broad range of life-saving services in the field, with much of this work conducted in unusual and unpredictable locations. For those who provide such services, farm visits, mobile spay and neuter and vaccination clinics, disaster response, animal sanctuaries and wildlife rehabilitation centers in rural areas, and animal cruelty investigations may all necessitate travel to remote and underserved communities. These critical services are often provided in places where cost, transportation, language barrier, and lack of veterinary care essentially make them “animal care deserts.” These private sector programs also reduce the costs to municipalities for animal care, control, and sheltering.
Additionally, mobile veterinarians provide important in-home veterinary services such as hospice care and euthanasia for animal companions. Other veterinarians need to use controlled substances in order to remove or relocate wild animals such as mountain lions, to rescue trapped, injured or endangered wildlife, or in research or disease control and abatement settings. Having access to veterinary medical drugs is key for these mobile practitioners. Animals found with broken bones or painful injuries often require immediate sedation and pain relief prior to transport. The large animal veterinarian or spay and neuter provider, for example, must observe an animal’s weight, the extent of that animal's pain, and the severity of that animal's condition before determining the type of drug and quantity necessary. Having the ability to carry adequate supplies, and to properly treat animals in the field, is essential for veterinarians committed to saving lives and providing humane, quality care.
Disappointingly, the Drug Enforcement Administration has been telling veterinarians they are in violation of the law if they transport drugs for remote practice. If veterinarians fear prosecution for carrying out their medical responsibilities, it will result in a decrease in quality animal care in the field, and have a chilling effect on the veterinary profession. If a law enforcement agency breaks up a dogfighting ring or a puppy mill, or if an organization sets up an emergency shelter in the wake of a natural disaster, it may not be able to have veterinarians on site to care for the animals. If owners can’t call on a licensed vet to use drugs to euthanize a sick animal, they may resort to less humane methods such as gunshot or blunt trauma.
The Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act will clarify the law and ensure the ability of mobile veterinarians to provide the most effective pain management, anesthetic, and sedation while practicing in the field. It’s a common-sense fix to this problem, with broad and bipartisan support, and Congress is right to act to rein in this overreach by the DEA. The HSUS, HSLF, and Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association are grateful to Reps. Schrader and Yoho and Sens. Moran and King for leading this effort to facilitate proper veterinary care for animals in the field, and urge the Congress to give swift and final approval to this important policy reform.
