Friday, March 29, 2024
animal welfarehealth and safetyveterinary medicine

Take Action: Let Veterinarians Do Their Work

cat claws clipped
Cookie objects to having her claws clipped at her home exam.

Veterinarians as felons? Go ahead, laugh. This is one class of people who are statistically unlikely to be persistent lawbreakers, yet many have been and continue to be engaging in felonious acts in the course of their everyday work—for the sake of our pets and animals everywhere. Funny no one thought to tell them this before now, but the federal government will begin enforcing regulations in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) that directly affect veterinarians in all fields of veterinary endeavor.

About the Controlled Substance Act of 1970

When you hear of “controlled substances”, typically narcotics and drugs considered mildly or highly addictive or otherwise considered socially or medically dangerous, this is the legislation that gave them that designation and governs their use and distribution. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) uses this detailed document which describes in detail the specific substances that are under control, how and by whom they are controlled, how and by whom they can be legally manufactured, transported, dispensed and used, and the penalties to those who do not follow the guidelines of this legislation. As new drugs are developed and uses for existing drugs are added or changed, the CSA is modified by acts of Congress—more on this below.

You can read the entire text of the CSA here, and read the history of the DEA here.

Veterinary use of controlled substances

black cat with bandage
Jelly Bean was prescribed buprenorphine, a narcotic, after his hospitalization for a urinary blockage.

Veterinarians use many of these controlled substances, just as all doctors do, in all courses of their work. They include common pain medications that contain narcotic components, tranquilizers used during treatment and surgery, sedatives or anti-anxiety medications and, of course, the medications used for euthanasia, substances which likely all of us have at one time had administered to our pets or prescribed for our pets by our veterinarians.

Veterinarians, like all other licensed medical practitioners, apply to the DEA for a license to use and prescribe the classes of drugs they feel they need. This application is registered with the DEA which assigns a license number to that individual for that class of drugs for the use stated on the application, and this is used to track all activity under that license. When prescribed, for instance, the “DEA #” on the prescription tells the pharmacist this individual is permitted to prescribe this substance, and the transaction is noted and reported. Purchases are tracked in the same manner.

The issue

At issue isn’t the entire use of these substances, but the use of them outside of the veterinarian’s registered location. The CSA restricts the use of these substances to only the location registered as the veterinarian’s place of business.

The CSA was passed in 1970, and the DEA formed in 1973. Oops, for the past 40 years someone has neglected to make it clear to the veterinarians who make house calls, treat large animals in the field and rescue and research wildlife that they aren’t permitted to even carry these substances with them, let alone use them outside of their place of business, typically limited to the confines of their clinic or their home.

My first thought was with my own veterinarian who only makes house calls and has no clinic at all and the implications on her and on my household of felines, but the effect reaches much farther than only mobile veterinarians for small and large animals such as equine veterinarians and livestock veterinarians who regularly treat their patients where they live.

Wildlife veterinarians who need to treat animals in the field obviously can’t have the animals come to their clinic, and researchers studying animals don’t want them in a clinical setting—and even the transport of these animals is controlled to protect the welfare of the animal, so a veterinarian could even be in violation of federal law if it tried to transport an animal in need of care.

Consider the veterinarians who move to rescue a trapped whale or an injured wildcat who must sedate the animal onsite before treatment, or the researcher who uses a tranquilizer dart to sedate a wolf in preparation for adding a tracking mechanism to study its activities, or the rescue worker who searches structures after a hurricane and finds an animal who needs a sedative in order to be removed. A veterinarian finding an animal critically injured after being hit by a vehicle could not administer a merciful euthanasia.

And public safety is at issue as well when considering these natural disasters, or when wildlife is considered dangerous to human habitation and needs to be moved. These professionals as well violate federal law in the course of their work.

And most critically, considering how frequently veterinary medicine is used “in the field”, animals everywhere would suffer if veterinarians could not serve them where they are.

HR 1528, the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act of 2013

black cats at exam.
My cats are all relaxed at their exam, with my veterinarian’s big black bag in the background

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) the DEA has already informed veterinarians in California and Washington State that they are in violation of the CSA.

HR 1528, the “Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act of 2013”, is a congressional act which seeks to amend the CSA to permit veterinarians who are licensed to use these controlled substances to be able to use them wherever they are conducting their professional business—in their office, in a barn, in the wilderness or in your home. You can read the text of the act here, find who is sponsoring it as well as follow its progress.

TAKE ACTION NOW

The AVMA has provided an Action Alert page where you can enter your zip code to pull up a letter template that is addressed to your congressional representative. You have the opportunity to modify the letter’s text and add your own text as well. When you are finished, the letter will be delivered by e-mail or on paper to your representative, and also follow the bill’s progress.

My experiences with veterinary house calls

Cookie curls with Peaches' body after we all said goodbye.
Cookie curls with Peaches’ body on my bed after we all said goodbye.

Unlike other veterinarians who make house calls and also have a clinic, my veterinarian only makes house calls, and while I’ve taken my cats off to specialty or emergency clinics, most of their care for the past 19 years has happened here, in my home. They have had not only regular exams but also critical care during illnesses as well as palliative care at the end of their lives, and I was able to wait until they let me know they were truly ready to let go before I called my veterinarian for euthanasia when necessary. And at that time, I didn’t have to pack my precious one into a carrier, which would have often been a great discomfort, and spend our last moments potentially among strangers in a clinical setting, but my entire household could be around and we could spend time together afterward.

black cat on black bag
Mr. Sunshine owns my vet’s big black bag, which is safely zipped shut.

And even just for exams, a cat is more relaxed in its own home, not upset and possibly terrified at being packed into a crate, a ride in a vehicle, time in the waiting room with strange people and strange animals, the smells of the exam room–no matter how friendly your cat is or how you manage to soften the experience, a heart rate, respiration, and other vital signals are likely to be more accurate with a cat in the comfort of its own home.

. . . . . . .

Thanks to Ingrid King of The Conscious Cat for bringing this to my attention, and to my house-call veterinarian of 19 years for answering my questions about her experience with the issue and the implications of this action on her and her business. Oh, and also for putting up with me for 19 years.


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4 thoughts on “Take Action: Let Veterinarians Do Their Work

  • When I lived in the Connecticut countryside and had companion goats, we depended upon our veterinarians to visit us — with the proper medications in tow.
    My goats didn’t live forever; I had to have them euthanized. That, in itself, was disturbing enough, but what if I’d had to take them to the medicine?
    Ridiculous.
    Thanks for letting me know. I just wrote to my representative.

    Reply
    • Meg, please share with others who have the same experience as you.

      Goats? They’re actually really cute!

      Reply
  • Hey Isobel,

    This law is ludicrous. I seriously wonder about the awareness of the people that pass such laws. Do they have any idea about the implications of their laws? They obviously have no sense of what a veterinarian’s job involves. On a daily basis, we do house calls especially for large animals. We get called out to transport or put down injured wildlife. I don’t expect my farmer to bring his DOWN COW to the clinic, the stress of transporting it may kill the poor animals!And like you mentioned, some pets are actually worse to assess at the clinic and are best examined in their home environment.

    Recently, in Australia, there was a huge outcry when headlines posted a vet was almost fined about $800 for reuniting a stray pet with its owners. Apparently, council said he should have gone through them. We often get stray animals brought in especially on weekends or public holidays (when council is CLOSED) and we scan them for microchips and reunite them with their owners as soon as possible FREE OF CHARGE. Council now expect us to keep them in hospital until a ranger can pick them up and go through the process of finding their owners. Obviously they charge hefty fees for that service.

    It makes you realize that some laws are put in place simply for monetary gain.

    Reply
    • Dr. Rayya, thank you for your comment and your information about how things are done down under. You have to go through your council? Even when you are the best solution for helping the animal?

      Underlying this law is a sensible action–it’s mean to help prevent drug abuse, and it has done so since 1970, but it’s also clear that society was not thinking about animal welfare when they wrote the law and completely forgot to include this type of care given by veterinarians. The bill in Congress makes perfect sense, but often Congress does not so I truly hope it passes in time so that no animals are in danger of suffering.

      Reply

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