The calm before the calm on the high seas of animal policy
Congress, states do little to interfere with veterinary medicine.
This blogger has been quiet for the past month or so. Not for lack of work or interests, but to wait and see if state legislatures across the country or Congress signaled any appetite to challenge veterinarians or blaze new trails in animal welfare in 2014. After a decade of steady activity in the states, and a hint here or there in Congress, we’ve now witnessed the winds dying down and the seas calming.
Most state legislatures have wrapped up their work for 2014 (only 11 states currently remain in session), and not a single chamber took aim at veterinarians in a meaningful or threatening manner. Practice acts were not reconfigured, sales taxes on veterinary services were not imposed, professional judgment and autonomy were not undermined and political hands steered clear of the basic economics of veterinary practices.