29FDA9EC95C1CDB687258273005994A7 Hearing Summary

Senator Marble, prime-sponsor, discussed the provisions of Senate Bill18-239 concerning animal chiropractic education and reporting requirements. This bill removes the requirement that a registered animal chiropractor receive medical clearance by a licensed veterinarian to perform animal chiropractic treatment if certain education and training requirements are met. Specifically, the chiropractor must complete a one-hour jurisprudence course concerning the laws, rules, and procedures for the identification and notification of certain contagious, infectious, and zoonotic diseases, and completes an eight-hour course on recognizing the earlier indicators and clinical signs of various diseases in dog and equid patients. The bill sets forth the standards for the course and specifies that a chiropractor is not required to retake the courses to renew or reinstate his or her registration to practice animal chiropractic. In addition, the bill requires that two hours of continuing education, out of the current 20-hour requirement, be focused on contagious, infectious, and zoonotic diseases. When treating an animal patient, the chiropractor must notify the licensed veterinarian treating the animal within seven days, or if there is no veterinarian of record, provide documentation on the treatment to the person bringing the animal for treatment. If a chiropractor suspects that the animal patient has had exposure to or is exhibiting symptoms of certain contagious diseases, he or she must stop treatment and notify the animal's licensed veterinarian and the State Veterinarian in the Department of Agriculture.

Diane Mett, Colorado Veterinary Medical Association, spoke in support of the bill and distributed background information on the bill [Attachment B].

Roland Halpern, Colorado Voters for Animals, spoke in support of the bill.

Dr. Alex Turner, Colorado Department of Agriculture, spoke in support of the bill.

Senator Marble responded to questions from the committee about the bill.

The chair closed testimony and Senator Marble closed her comments on the bill.