California Senate panel hears national models, splits on whether nonveterinarians should expand animal care roles

A California State Senate committee held a hybrid informational hearing on whether allied health professionals trained primarily to treat people should be authorized to provide medical or rehabilitative care for animals. The panel heard regulators from Nevada and Kentucky, executive officers from California licensing boards, university veterinarians and practicing physical therapists and chiropractors.

The hearing framed three competing aims: expand access to rehabilitative and noninvasive animal care, preserve veterinarians’ central diagnostic role, and protect animal safety through enforceable education and premises standards. “Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for the board in exercising its licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions,” Jessica Seiferman,…