Veterinary Care in Shelters: Who Can Legally Do What?
When it comes to veterinary care in animal shelters, it’s crucial to make sure the right person does the right job—and the right person doesn’t always have to be a DVM or RVT! Amid staff shortages and other challenges, it’s more important than ever to recognize the potential of every team member, including front office staff, field officers, kennel attendants, volunteers, and fosters.
Is your shelter fully leveraging the veterinary care capabilities of your entire team? Take this quiz to find out:
- Can vaccines be administered during hold periods?
- Who can give a Rabies vaccine, and under what type of supervision?
- If you don’t have a veterinarian on-site, can you use standing protocols?
- Are microchipping and administering snap tests considered the practice of veterinary medicine, or can any team member do these tasks?
- Can an RVT perform emergency procedures on an animal?
- Can an RVT or unlicensed veterinary assistant prepare animals for spay and/or neuter surgeries on pets who are to be adopted out? Which, if any, tasks involved can only be done by an RVT or DVM?
If you’re not sure of the answers, this one-hour webinar is for you!
On February 7 at 10 a.m. PT, join Bruce Wagman, Lead Counsel for San Francisco SPCA’s Shelter Policy and Legal Services (Shelter PALS), to clear up confusion around what must be done by a DVM or RVT and what other team members and volunteers can—and can’t—do.
You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of which shelter tasks which team members can perform, from intake-related care and running diagnostics to providing treatment, surgery, euthanasia, public veterinary services and emergency care.
After this webinar, you’ll be ready to maximize your shelter’s options for providing veterinary care while adhering to law and practice act requirements.
Register now and bring your questions for the Q&A!
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