Oklahoma House panel passes livestock compromise bill

A House committee unanimously approved a measure Wednesday that sets up a panel to discuss who can perform new livestock medical procedures. The bill’s intent is to prevent disagreements between veterinarians and farmers and ranchers, such as the dispute involving equine dentists, commonly called horse teeth floaters. The measure was the result of several months of talks between the Oklahoma State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and various ranchers and farmers, said Rep. Don Armes, who led a two-year struggle to allow equine dentists to practice in the state. As part of the negotiations, the state veterinary board withdrew its emergency rule that would have required equine dentists who get certified to post their certificates in clear view while working. Equine dentists file down horses’ teeth; because teeth in horses continue to grow, they should be filed down at least once a year. The board also dropped its emergency rule that would have discontinued livestock reproductive services as an animal husbandry act and placed it instead as a veterinary procedure. That would have meant only veterinarians could perform such procedures and would have jeopardized the operations of companies that help cattle producers with embryo transfers and breeding transfers. The Animal Technology Advisory Committee that would be established under HB 1310 would review advances in technology involving the care of livestock and make a recommendation to the state veterinary board whether each is a practice that should be handled only by veterinarians...more