(C) Ohio Capital Journal This unaltered story was originally published by Ohio Capital Journal ------------ Ohio may allow breeders without vet training to perform surgery on dogs [1] ['Morgan Trau', 'More From Author', '- April'] Date: 2022-04-26 00:00:00 The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. A proposed rule change under review at the Statehouse could allow some dog breeders without medical training to perform certain surgeries on puppies shortly after birth. The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR) will be hearing testimony on Tuesday on a rule that would allow any commercial or high-volume breeders to dock the tails and remove dewclaws for puppies ages two to five days old. This rule was proposed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA). Although this is a common cosmetic practice for some dogs, the question of who is doing the procedure is causing concern for animal activists. “There are rules that the Ohio Department of Agriculture are trying to continue to operate under and to pass, that would allow dog breeders without a vet being present without pain, medication, without anesthesia to lop off the tails of dogs and also utilize equipment to pull out their dewclaws,” Vicki Deisner, state government affairs advisor for Animal Welfare Institute, said. The Humane Society describes ‘puppy mills’ as inhumane high-volume dog breeding facilities. Ohio ranks number two in the nation for most mills. Deisner believed this proposal would cause even more inhumane conditions. “Now I would like to show you some of the equipment that we understand the puppy mill breeders will use to do this,” she said, taking out equipment. “Here are a pair of small garden clippers. Here is a knife that they use to cut it off. Here is a pair of scissors, just plain old garden scissors and a rubber band because that process would be to tie tightly the end of the tail and basically cut the blood supply till it rots and falls off.” A report in 2021 done by the Humane Society showed Ohio breeders were one of the worst offenders for inhumane treatment of animals — with performing botched dental surgery, dogs living in feces and out in the cold in the winter, and keeping dogs in crates with other dead or severely injured puppies. “To just simply say, ‘yeah, we can lob off a tail or a dewclaw and not understand the anatomy behind that, not mitigate the pain behind that and not knowing how to properly heal that wound,’ you could put a puppy into grave danger,” ​Dr. Ole Alcumbrac, medical director for White Mountain Animal Hospital, said. Alcumbrac is a longtime veterinarian and wildlife expert. He has seen many botched cases from breeders and non-professionals trying to alter their dogs, he said. Although they first considered doing an interview with News 5, they changed their minds. Their spokesperson Bryan Levin did provide some answers to questions emailed. This rule change is due to a five-year rule review and the fact that there were two Ohio Revised Code updates in 2018 and 2019. It is also intended to bring the rules up to date to reflect the current ORC, Levin said. “These procedures have been allowed to be performed by the licensed high volume dog breeder since the inception of the law,” he said. “The OAC requires the high volume dog breeder to have a veterinary health care plan developed by their veterinarian that addresses how the licensee will perform these procedures, if applicable (not all breeds of dog have their tails docked or dewclaws removed). So, although the licensee may be performing these procedures, there is required veterinary oversight.” Deisner said that although that may be their code to do that practice, it directly goes against Ohio law. “There are no provisions allowing for the practice of veterinary medicine based on the age of companion animal, whether it is two to five days,” she said. “Allowing layperson to perform these procedures is in violation of the laws that establish the qualifications for a licensed veterinarian and places animals in danger by providing permission to an unqualified individual to perform a surgical procedure, one which also alters the animal’s body and can result in long term damage.” She also added that the law states, in regard to high-volume commercial dog breeders “if a surgical or euthanasia procedure is required, use a veterinarian to perform the procedure.” As the legislation clearly states that a veterinarian is to perform all surgical procedures, the ODA lacks the authority to enact regulations that allow anyone other than veterinarians to conduct such procedures, she said. A representative from the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) said that some activists may be misconstruing the regulation. He said, technically, tail docking and dewclaw removal isn’t surgery. Alcumbrac disagrees. “Any time you cut into a body that is considered surgery,” Alcumbrac said. As it turns out, the OVMA, as well as the kennel vets-on-record of ODA’s licensed high-volume breeders are part of ODA’s stakeholder group, Levin revealed. Allowing a person to perform a cosmetic surgical procedure on any animal regardless of age without proper pain management and euthanasia is considered animal cruelty, torture and torment, Deisner added, citing the law. If people do really want their dog to have the same aesthetic as the rest of its breed, go to a vet, Alcumbrac said, even though he doesn’t like the procedures. “It’s going to be done properly and the standards are met for the breeds,” he said. “For instance, if we’re doing tails on a puppy, there’s already pre-established standards for where we cut that tail, how we make that tail look and we’re going to be doing it, aseptically. We’re going to be suturing wounds. We’re going to be doing everything that we need to do in order to have the best outcome for that desired look on that dog.” The main reason that people don’t want to take their puppies to the vet is that the vet can be expensive, Deisner said. “It would save them money,” she said. “If you look at what the cost to the pet store, where the puppy mills dogs go, you see dogs being sold between $2-5,000 often. There is obviously money being made, and if there’s that much money being made, it should go back and some of it needs to be spent on those animals who are suffering.” She also adds that when someone has a large number of dogs, there is no possible way they are actively caring for each one of them in the best way possible. A lot of the dogs are just for profit, she said. “Our mission is to prevent cruelty to animals in the state of Ohio and nationwide and in that respect, we are actually urging the viewers and those who care and advocate for dogs that come from puppy mills and end up being sold in pet stores, to speak up to their legislators — but particularly legislators that have oversight over JCARR,” she said. “Ask them to invalidate these rules and abide by what the law says — only surgical procedures can be done by veterinarians.” [END] [1] Url: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2022/04/26/ohio-may-allow-breeders-without-vet-training-to-perform-surgery-on-dogs/ Published and (C) by Ohio Capital Journal Content is licensed for republication through Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/ohiocapitaljournal/