BILL NUMBER:A10266

TITLE  OF BILL:  An act to amend chapter 176 of the laws of 2007, amend-
ing the education law relating  to  persons  exempt  from  licensure  as
veterinarians, in relation to making permanent the provisions thereof

PURPOSE  OF  GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill will make permanent Chapter
176 of the Laws of 2007 which allows state  licensed  veterinarians  who
provide  services  to  American  Zoo and Aquarium Association accredited
facilities to retain the services  of  licensed  physicians  to  perform
services upon gibbons, siamangos, orangutans, chimps, gorillas and other
great apes under certain limited circumstances.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: This bill would make permanent paragraph
(12)  of  Section  6705  of  the education law to allow veterinarians to
supervise physicians in rendering medical  services  to  the  enumerated
non-human  primates  at  AZA  accredited  facilities in the State of New
York.

JUSTIFICATION:  In recent years American Zoo  and  Aquarium  Association
accredited  facilities located in the state have from time to time found
it necessary to undertake sensitive  medical  procedures  on  enumerated
non-human  primates  in  their  long term care and custody.   During the
course of these procedures have there have been occasions in which their
veterinary experience and training has not prepared  them  as  fully  to
provide  the  kind of sophisticated medical care they may have wished to
              

provide. Essentially, many  major  medical  procedures  involving  these
animals are not undertaken frequently enough to allow licensed veterina-
rians to develop the level of expertise that they feel appropriate.

Given the similarity of many features of the anatomy of these species to
that  of  human beings, this bill would allow veterinarians to draw upon
the expertise of their human  health  colleagues  by  allowing  them  to
involve  a  physician  in  the  care  and treatment of them. In order to
ensure that the overall expertise of the  veterinarian  in  treating  an
animal  is  recognized, the bill makes clear that it is the veterinarian
who is responsible for the overall care of the animal by requiring  that
the  condition  be  diagnosed  by  the veterinarian who is authorized to
delegate aspects of medical care to an appropriately qualified physician
while maintaining the responsibility for evaluating the care provided by
the physician.

The necessity for this legislation is underscored by  the  enactment  of
2004 legislation that makes it illegal for New Yorkers to own or possess
certain  exotic  animals. As a result, it may become increasingly diffi-
cult for veterinarians to maintain the professional competence to under-
take sophisticated procedures on these animals making the necessity  for
the enactment of this bill more apparent.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: Chapter 176 of the Laws of 2007

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The bill would take effect immediately.