Can you imagine being a veterinarian in a state where you were legally prohibited from reporting cases of animal abuse? If you practice in Kentucky, you don’t need to imagine it; it’s the law.
I was reading an article on the Veterinary Information Network’s website about a new law passed in Massachusetts, making it the fifteenth state to require veterinarians to report suspected animal abuse to the authorities. Twenty-seven others provide immunity to veterinarians who do so, although they don’t require it.
Toward the end of the article, I was shocked to read this:
Veterinarians may report animal cruelty in states without legal mandates to do so, with one exception. The Animal Legal Defense Fund lists Kentucky as prohibiting it.
By law, Kentucky veterinarians are barred from reporting suspected cases of animal abuse to authorities unless there is written consent or a court order to do so.
The good news is, the Kentucky State Veterinarian is working to change that law. Until that day, it’s not a state where I’d want to be a veterinarian — or an animal.
Read the rest of the article here.
