Animal Owners Rights - Background Information

New Veterinary Medical Monopoly Law May Land YOU in Jail

Animal Owners Targeted in New DVM Medical Law

In November of 2003, a law went into effect in Oklahoma expanding the definition of what licensed veterinarians were legally allowed to practice. DVMs practice allopathy, the same drug/surgery/high-tech based medicine MDs practice. The expansion of definition was the addition of just four words...."complementary and alternative therapies".

So now, by law, the legal definition of the practice of veterinary medicine in the state of Oklahoma reads as follows:

A. The practice of veterinary medicine shall include, but not be limited to:

Diagnosing, surgery, treating, correcting, changing, relieving, or preventing animal disease, deformity, defect, injury or other physical or mental conditions including the prescribing or administering of any drug, medicine, biologic, apparatus, application, anesthetic, telemedicine, animal chiropractic diagnosis and treatment, or other therapeutic diagnostic substance or technique; dentistry; complementary and alternative therapies to be defined by rule pursuant to Section 698.7 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes; testing for pregnancy or correcting sterility or enhancing fertility; or rendering advice or recommendation with regard to any of the above;

THIS MEANS YOU GO TO JAIL!

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly aid or abet in the unlicensed practice of veterinary medicine in this state.

B. Any person who violates, aids or abets in violating any of the provisions of the Oklahoma Veterinary Practice Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or not more than Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty (30) days, nor more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

This new law is designed to bar anyone who is not a DVM from offering any kind of natural healing arts service (all forms of touch therapies, any animal whispering, spirit healing, aromatherapy, Bach Flower or other homeopathic therapies, or any naturopathic modality including dietary advise-giving to name a few). In short, the DVMs have established a monopoly on services provided to animals in this state.

It is important to note that under Oklahoma law, thanks to a vote of the people in 1920 and a major lobbying effort on the part of the general public in 1994, the allopathic medical profession has never been able to establish a similar monopoly of services rendered to humans in Oklahoma. By law, every person of any age is legally allowed to benefit from natural healing arts products and services and may do so by going directly to practitioners who specialize in natural healing arts. MDs have nothing to do with the transaction, though by the same law, they too, are allowed to provide non-allopathic services (aka complementary and alternative or natural healing arts), as the DVMs are now.

Schools that teach natural healing arts are regulated under our vocational school system as these healing arts are considered trades, not the practice of medicine.

Studies Show Natural Healing Arts Extremely Safe Alternatives to Allopathic Medicine

Direct access to natural healing arts without first gaining permission from MDs or DVMs has been legal in Oklahoma for over 100 years. Had there been any documentable and provable evidence of "risk to the public" or "risk to animals", this evidence would have come out long ago and such a monopoly on services to humans and/or animals might be justified to protect the public.

The plain fact of the matter is, natural healing arts products and services are incredibly safe. For example, in a 2004 report called "Analysis of Relative Risks and Levels of Risk in Canada", based on actual recorded incidences of harm, the risk of death for those using both natural healing arts products and services, is 15 per ONE BILLION. Conversely, in a book published in 2005, by Carolyn Dean, MD ND, entitled, "Death by Modern Medicine", using official allopathic industry records, in was shown that at least 784,000 people die prematurely every year in the US, alone, thanks to allopathic medical intervention.

The Drug Industry Is Orchestrating the Monopoly Takeover of Animal Medical and Health Care

In 1997, amid great fanfare, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) announced that several transnational pharmaceutical companies along with a major animal food company had formed a "strategic partnership" to improve the financial fortunes of the industry as a whole. Several of these companies have committed a million dollars a year for the foreseeable future to make this dream of monopoly come true.

In 2000, the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI) was organized and strategic planners from all sponsoring corporations formed a committee to provide ongoing strategic planning leadership to the AVMA for this financial enrichment campaign. The project’s campaign slogan is "HIGHER PROFITS MEAN HEALTHIER PATIENTS".

It should be no surprise to anyone that the drug industry's interest in this venture is to find new markets for drugs. These companies have several hundred drugs already approved for human use, all set and ready to be renamed and repackaged for use in animals. For drug merchants, it is far more cost effective to pour millions into the vet industry to create a drug-based monopoly to recycle these human drugs than it is to spend hundreds of millions to develop new animal drugs.

Part of the strategic planning being financed by the drug industry has been to conduct ongoing economic studies on how best to raise prices in a market that is oversupplied with "companion animal" vets. The obvious answer is to find more services that can be rendered under the supervision of DVMs even if DVMs are unqualified to know what these services are. Natural healing arts services (aka complementary and alternative therapies) are not taught in DVM schools and at the largest DVM convention last February, where all the latest vet products and services are shown off to thousands of vets attending the show, only 10 hours of seminars out of 800 hours offered were devoted to showcasing complementary and alternative practices....and one of these seminars covered instructing animal owners how to prepare animal food at home. This does not demonstrate any industry-wide commitment to learning more about these non-allopathic therapies.

Equine Dentists Also Targeted to be Outlawed - Farriers May Be Next

Despite the fact that equine dentists study a minimum of 300 hours (and up to 1000 hours for advanced work) to qualify for certification, they, too, are being threatened with arrest and jail for practicing. Equine dentistry is a trade that was in existence hundreds of years before veterinary medicine came into being. Ironically, equine dentistry is not actually taught in vet schools other than an hour or two as an elective, if available at all.

 

Farriers are also feeling the pinch. Instead of viewing horse shoers as the same common law trade that has been in existence since ancient times, there is much discussion as to the fact that when a farrier fits a horse for a set of shoes, his job could be defined as the practice of veterinary medicine. Why? Because the proper fitting of a set of shoes has something to do with diagnosing and treating the health condition of each horse. In short, in the new vet medical monopoly technospeak, farriers could be considered podiatrists - a medical practice!

 

Temporary Law A Quick Fix That Makes Matters Worse

The largest number of practitioners who were put out of business by the 2003 DVM monopoly law, were those who practice "equine massage". At least one school here in Oklahoma is authorized by the state to offer courses for certification in equine massage and there are literally dozens of schools out-of-state that offer various certified animal massage courses as well. By law, here in Oklahoma, natural healing arts including massaging anybody, man or beast, has always been considered a vocation not a medical art.

In an effort to provide emergency economic relief to this particular group of practitioners, a bill was passed in 2005 that will go in effect November 1, 2005. It was a hastily-thought-through effort to allow these practitioners to continue practicing until a new bill to restore direct access to ALL natural healing arts practitioners could be passed.

This temporary law is a vaguely-worded exemption from prosecution that reads as follows:

“Any individual that is certified in animal massage therapy and acquires liability insurance from engaging in animal massage therapy after referral from a licensed veterinarian.”

While to the average person, this exemption sounds innocuous enough, upon thoughtful examination, here are the problems it creates:

1. All animal owners now must first seek permission from a vet (read pay for an evaluation of the animal) to provide any touch therapy to their animal.

2. Massage, or any other touch therapy, is not a medical modality so vets are actually not-qualified to prescribe or recommend services that are not part of their official medical training. Getting a massage is not a medical treatment.

3. Some vets might require the massage therapist to render services only on the vet's premises.

4. Some vets might refer an animal owner to someone they have a financial arrangement with and not allow the owner to take the animal to the therapist of the owner's choice.

Providing Aromatherapy, Spirit Healing, Animal Whispering, Flower Essence Therapy, or Taking Advice From Professional Natural Health Practitioner About How to Use Health Food Store Products is Now a Jailable Offense

Queen Elizabeth and Oprah Winfrey Could Go to Jail if They Came To Oklahoma

Members of British Royal Family have been principle promoters of homeopathy since the first cholera epidemics in London in 1835 proved the curative value of homeopathy. In modern times, Queen Elizabeth serves as the Royal Patron of the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London. One of her most well-known personal physicians, Dr. Trevor Cook, who was not only the official personal physician to the Queen and her mother, and also officially provided products and services to her animals, is head of one of the most respected schools in the world. Dr. Cook's British Institute of Homeopathy has trained practitioners from 75 countries in the following areas of natural healing arts: homeopathy, aromatherapy, nutrition and herbal medicine, Animal Flower Essence Therapy and Bach-Flower remedies.

There are two curricula covering training toward diplomas in Veterinary Homeopathy. They are both open to licensed veterinarians and non-medical people.

Upon successful completion of the basic curricula all students receive a Certificate in Veterinary Homeopathy.

Upon successful completion of the advanced curricula, non-medical practitioners receive the Diploma in homeopathy (DIHom) and licensed veterinarians receive the Diploma in Veterinary Homeopathy (DVemHom). The school also offers a diploma course specifically dealing with animal treatment using flower essence therapies.

In addition, Queen Elizabeth, through her early and ongoing support of the work of Monty Roberts, the use of psychology to treat emotionally-distressed horses (and people) has spawned an entire industry of practitioners called "animal whisperers". Animal whisperers, who function as animal psychologists, in no way could be confused with practicing allopathic veterinary medicine although they "diagnose and treat mental conditions".

Oprah Winfrey, in trying to find help for her dog, Sophie, made dog whisperer, Cezar Millan and his Dog Psychology Center a household name. Sophie suffered from "separation anxiety syndrome" a psychological condition which many dog experts and vets say can be corrected through using a prescription drug and extensive and time-consuming behavior modification. Cezar's special brand of psychology resolved Sophie's problem right on TV in front of Oprah's 20 million viewers. Other dogs with more serious problems are put into residential treatment programs at Millan's Dog Psychology Center.

It is unknown how many natural healing practitioners mix and match their techniques between various touch therapies, psychological healing techniques, use of homeopathy, aromatherapy, herbal preparations, and the like, but in Oklahoma it is obvious that the common sense which prevailed leaving the decisions up to the animal owner to hire their own practitioners is gone. It's been declared against the law.