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Texas Register Preamble


The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners adopts amendments to §573.65 concerning Definitions with changes to the proposed text as published in the Texas Register on March 7, 2003 (28 TexReg 2022). This section contains several definitions of terms that are contained in the Veterinary Licensing Act and the Board's rules. Under the Act, some practices related to animals are exempt from regulation by the Board and may be conducted by non-veterinarians. "Accepted livestock management practices "include several such exempt practices. The list of "accepted management practices" that may be performed by non-veterinarians is re-written to clarify some of the practices and include horses (equidae) in the definition of livestock subject to these practices. The term "designated caretaker" is expanded to included all types of animals, not just food production animals as is now the case. Other terms are defined without substantive change.

A written comment was received from the Texas Veterinary Medical Association concerning the amended rule's inclusion of horses in the definition of livestock that may be exempt from the Act. Under the proposed amendments, horses would be considered to be "livestock" and would be subject to procedures performed by non-veterinarians such as castration and artificial insemination. The TVMA opposes the listing of horses in the coverage of "accepted livestock management practices" because it does not consider horses to be "livestock" in the normal sense of the word. In addition, the TVMA believes that castration and artificial insemination of horses should be left in the hands of licensed veterinarians. In the alternative, the TVMA suggests that equine be addressed in a separate rule to differentiate between equine and typical livestock such as cattle.

The Board concurs with the TVMA's position and will remove horses from the coverage of animals subject to "accepted livestock management practices." This change is not substantive but the section will be re-published. The amendments will reflect actual veterinary practices and provide a more readable format of exempt management practices.

The amended section is adopted under the authority of the Occupations Code, §801.151 (a) which authorizes the Board to adopt rules necessary to administer the Veterinary Licensing Act.



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