[QUOTE=Calif Valley Vet;8500949]
The California Vet Med Board (CVMB) has already shut down equine dentists, acupuncturists and chiropractors who don’t work with a veterinarian on-site. They are now trying to do the same with massage therapy and swim therapy. The way they’ve defined “The practice of veterinary medicine,” they can do a whole lot more. Their enforcement measures consist of stings based on complaints( mostly by competing veterinarians), fines of thousands of dollars and threat of other legal action Iem they are not very nice about it and don’t give warning letters. In Arizona, they shut down low-cost vaccination clinics. Don’t think it can’t happen here. I was at a meeting where they were bouncing that idea around.
California Alliance for Animal Owners Rights (www.CalAAOR.com) is working on getting a bill sponsored that will allow animal owners to seek care from non-veterinarians, just as SB 577 allowed people to use acupuncturists and other alternative care with out threat of action by the Medical Board. We need signatures for our petition and even more importantly clubs and associations to sign a letter of support. Please check out our website and the FB page for California Alliance for Animal Owners Rights.[/QUOTE]
There is a huge debate going on in the country right now about the use of “licensure” as an antitrust mechanism to keep out market participants.
Over 20 years ago, I read an AVMA paper stating strategy for going after these practioners. This is not just CA. You need to be knowledgeable about the state of these cases throughout the US.
The FTC is not looking kindly on this and brought suit that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. In this case the NC Board of Dentists sued to shut down women who were offering teeth whitening services claiming it was the practice of dentistry. The NC Board lost at the SCOTUS.
NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF DENTAL EXAMINERS v. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/13-534_19m2.pdf
You might want to contact the Institute for Justice. They represented a Maryland woman who was offering horse massage…and won
http://ij.org/case/clemens-v-maryland-state-board-of-veterinary-medical-examiners-et-al/
On June 10, 2008, the Institute for Justice filed suit in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville on behalf of Mercedes Clemens, challenging Maryland’s animal massage regulations as a violation of fundamental constitutional rights. After the lawsuit was filed, the Veterinary Board immediately backed down and was dismissed from the case, but the Chiropractic Board maintained its cease-and-desist order against Ms. Clemens for another year under the absurd argument that anyone in Maryland was permitted to massage animals except people who were also licensed to massage humans. On July 30, 2009, Judge David Boynton of the Montgomery County Circuit Court ruled that the Chiropractic Board had no authority over the practice of animal massage and had acted illegally in shutting down Ms. Clemens’ business. Thanks to this ruling, Ms. Clemens has begun rebuilding her practice and reconnecting with her former clients.
Here is a rather long-winded article from two law profs at UPenn on
CARTELS BY ANOTHER NAME: SHOULD LICENSED OCCUPATIONS FACE ANTITRUST SCRUTINY?
https://www.pennlawreview.com/print/162-U-Pa-L-Rev-1093.pdf
When only about five percent of American workers were subject to licensing requirements during the 1950s, the anticompetitive effect of these state- sanctioned cartels was relatively small. Now, however, nearly a third of American workers need a state license to perform their job legally, and this trend toward licensing is continuing. The service sector—the most likely to be covered by licensing—has grown enormously, with its share of nonfarm employment growing from roughly 40% in 1950 to over 60% in 2007. Some recent additions to the list of professions requiring licenses include lock- smiths, beekeepers, auctioneers interior designers, fortune tellers, tour guides, and shampooers.
