Visiting Veterinarian Bill Nears the Finish Line

SB2798, SD1, HD2, CD1, Relating to Veterinary Medicine passed both chambers of the Hawaii State Legislature and needs the approval of Gov. David Ige to become law.

SB2798, which has Hawaiian Humane’s strong support, authorizes the Hawaii Board of Veterinary Medicine to grant temporary courtesy and relief permits for out-of-state veterinarians, permits licensed veterinarians to practice veterinarian telemedicine and allows for international veterinary school graduates to qualify for the licensure examination.

This measure gives state regulators the ability to ensure that out-of-state veterinarians who want to practice temporarily in Hawaii are qualified to do so. Visiting veterinarians provide vital services including assistance with animal rescues and disaster response; high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter; relief for private-practice and shelter veterinarians; and access to specialties unavailable in the state.

Please ask Gov. Ige to sign this bill by visiting  https://governor.hawaii.gov/contact-us/comments-on-legislation/. Comments can be brief. The important thing is to weigh in so that the governor sees that the community recognizes the value of this measure.

Other measures we supported

SB2837, SD2, HD2 Relating to the Spaying and Neutering of Animals did not pass, but we learned a lot about how to improve this bill going forward. Increasing the funding available for spay/neuter remains vitally important and we will continue to pursue that goal.

SB2195, SD2, HD1 Relating to Fowl did not pass, however, the advocacy of our animal welfare community built an enormous amount of awareness and support for the humane management of our feral chicken population. We will continue to encourage the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to permit avian birth control to be used in feral chicken management across the state.