Treatment of animals within the UK is governed under the ‘Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966’ ensuring only qualified veterinarians provide services deemed as ‘veterinary surgery’.
The Veterinary Surgery (Exemptions) Order 1962 was introduced to amend the Veterinary Surgeons Act to take legitimate Complementary Therapies into account. The Veterinary Surgery (Exemptions) Order 1962 allows for the treatment of animals by physiotherapy.
These restrictions are in the interests of ensuring that animals are treated only by people qualified to do so and makes it necessary to gain permission from the vet before treatment commences. Many equine massage therapists will use a simple permission form faxed to the vet to ensure everyone is informed and working for the good of the horse.
It is deemed necessary for an equine sports massage therapist to work not only with permission from the vet but with adequate insurance. A therapist working without the necessary permission may find their insurance is invalid in the event of a mishap so it really is in everyone’s interest to follow the procedure.
‘Veterinary surgery’ is defined within the Act as encompassing the ‘art and science of veterinary surgery and medicine’ which includes the diagnosis of diseases and injuries in animals, tests performed on animals for diagnostic purposes, advice based upon a diagnosis and surgical operations which may not necessarily form part of a treatment.
‘Physiotherapy’ is interpreted as including all kinds of manipulative therapy.
See www.rcvs.org.uk for more details.
Updates from DEFRA 9th September 2009:
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Parliamentary Committee launched an inquiry into the Veterinary Surgeons Act in July 2007. Its terms of reference were to examine whether the provisions of the Act were out of step with developments in the veterinary surgeon and related professions, and whether there was a need to replace the Act. It did this by asking a series of questions on a range of issues and for written evidence in response to each of those questions to be submitted. A number of representative bodies, organisations and individuals submitted written evidence.
Defra’s written evidence acknowledged that the Veterinary Surgeons Act is in need of updating and replaced by new legislation but due to current constraints on Departmental spending, Defra is unable to take this forward during the current spending period (2008-11).
We will keep the Blog updated as more information becomes available.
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