Florida Alliance for Animal Owners Rights

ANIMAL OWNERS DESERVE CHOICES

The Florida Alliance for Animal Owners Rights (FAAOR) recognizes that there are many health care services provided for animals. Not all of them require the knowledge, expertise, or training that comes with a degree in veterinary medicine. FAAOR believes that animal owners should be allowed, by law, to choose the kind and type of service providers for their animals.

FAAOR was instrumental in asserting animal owners rights with the passage of Florida House Bill 641 into law on June 9, 2006. The bill recognizes the time honored services provided for herd and flock animals by independent contractors and exempts them from the veterinary law in Florida. This is an important step in recognizing that many people provide valuable animal health care services and owners have a right to decide what animal health care services they need for their herd or flock animals. Furthermore, the services of farriers and equine dentists, using manual tools, were expressly exempted from the Veterinary Practice Act by this law.

Click on this link to get all the details about Bill 641 or view the new law onthe Florida State Senate Web site. For your convenience, we have also included the text of the law on this page. (Clicking on any of these three links will open a new window.)

The new language is under Chapter 474.203 (5) (b), Florida Statutes. The exemption from the Veterinary Practice Act reads as follows:

Exemptions: (b) A person hired on a part-time or temporary basis, or as an independent contractor, by an owner to assist with herd management and animal husbandry tasks for herd and flock animals, including castration, dehorning, parasite control, and debeaking, or a person hired on a part-time or temporary basis, or as an independent contractor, by an owner to provide farriery and manual hand floating of teeth on equines.

FAAOR brings together in one organization animal owners, veterinarians, and non-veterinary animal health care providers to assess and evaluate health care practices, government proposals, and other current events affecting our animals. FAAOR members realize that as more Floridians take responsibility for their own health care, they also want to take responsibility for the health care of their animals. There is no other organization in Florida helping animal owners make independent decisions about their animal health care rights.

The members of FAAOR are committed to providing animal owners with the freedoms they are entitled to - choice in the health care provided for their animals.

If this is of interest to you, we welcome you to join us.