Chapter 442. To regulate the practice of veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia
2,205 words·~10 min read·
/statutes-at-large/vol-34/chapter-442-3806955·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 442.— An Act To regulate the practice of veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia. February 1, 1907. [[S. 5698](/us/bill/59/s/5698).] [[Public, No. 48](/us/pl/59/48).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, District of Columbia.Veterinary regulations.Board of examiners created. That there be, and is hereby, created a board of examiners in veterinary medicine, to be appointed by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, which shall consist of five reputable practitioners of veterinary medicine, who shall have graduated from some college authorized by law to confer degrees, each of whom shall have been a bona tide resident of said District for three years last past before appointment, and each, during said period, shall have been actively engaged in the practice of his profession in Appointments.Terms.said District.
The appointments first made shall be one for one year, one for two years, one for three years, one for four years, and one for five years, and thereaf ter appointments shall be for a period of five years, except such as are occasioned by death, resignation, or removal, in which cases the appointments shall be for the remainders of the *Proviso.*Removal.unexpired terms: *Provided*, That the said Commissioners may, in their judgment, remove any member of said board for neglect of duty or other sufficient cause, after due notice and hearing.
Sec. 2. Election of officers. That the said board of examiners in veterinary medicine shall elect a president, vice-president, secretary, and such other officers Powers.as shall be necessary. The Secretary of said board shall have power to administer oaths or affirmations upon such matters as pertain to the business of said board, and any person willfully making any false oath or affirmation shall be deemed guilty of perjury: and said board shall make, alter, or amend, subject to the approval of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act, and shall hold 871such meetings as shall be necessary for the transaction of business, and shall issue all licenses to practice veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia.
Said board shall keep an official record of its Records.meetings, and also an official register of all applicants for licenses, which register shall show the name, age, place, and duration of residence of each applicant, the time spent in the study of veterinary medicine, in and out of medical schools, and the names and locations of all medical schools which have granted said applicant any degree or certificate of attendance upon lectures, and it shall also show whether said applicant was rejected or licensed under this Act, and said register shall be prima facie evidence of all matters contained therein.
The Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall have Bond.power to require any or all officers of said board to give bond to the District of Columbia in such form and penalty as they may deem proper. The said board shall in the month of July in each year submit Report.to said Commissioners a full report of its transactions during the twelve months immediately preceding. Sec. 3. That from and after the passage of this Act all persons Applications for license.desiring to practice veterinary medicine or any branch thereof in the District of Columbia, or who shall desire to hold themselves out to the public as practicing veterinary medicine or any branch thereof in the District of Columbia, shall make application to said board of examiners in veterinary medicine for a license so to do.
Application Qualifications, etc.for this purpose shall be upon a form furnished by said board, and shall be accompanied by satisfactory evidence of good moral character, and by a diploma from some veterinary college authorized by law to confer the same, which college shall require at least two sessions of study of veterinary medicine of not less than six months each prior to the. issue of such diploma, and graduates of two-year colleges shall accompany their diplomas by satisfactory evidence that they have practiced veterinary medicine for five years last past subsequent to the issue of such diplomas, and by a fee of ten dollars, except as herein otherwise Fees.directed, and from the fund thus created, the board shall pay such necessary expenses as it may incur.
Such expenses shall not exceed in any Expense limit.one fiscal year the amount of fees collected during that period, but if any balance remain after paying all such expenses the Commissioners of said District shall authorize the payment therefrom to the members of said board for their services of such amounts as said Commissioners deem proper. Said board shall, by means of examinations, ascertain Examinations.the professional qualifications of all applicants for license to practice veterinary medicine in said District, and shall issue such licenses to all who are found by such examinations to be, in the judgment of said board, competent to so practice; and no such license shall be issued to any person who has not so demonstrated his competence, except as hereinafter otherwise provided.
Such examinations shall be held in January, Dates of.April, July, and October of each year, and shall include all such subjects as are ordinarily included in the curricula of veterinary colleges in good standing, but examinations may be held at such other times and include such other subjects as said board shall authorize and direct. Said board shall number consecutively all applications received, note upon each the disposition made of it, and preserve the same for reference, and shall number consecutively all licenses issued.
Sec. 4. That said board of examiners, so far as may be possible, Reciprocal arrangements with analogous boards.shall make arrangements with analogous boards of the several States and Territories whereby due. credit for State and Territorial licenses will be allowed in the District of Columbia to such licentiates of said boards as desire to secure licenses to practice veterinary medicine in this District, and whereby licentiates of the board of examiners in veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia will secure due credit for licenses issued by said board whenever such licentiates desire to 872secure licenses to practice veterinary medicine in any State or Territory; but no arrangement shall be made under the provisions of this section which will be liable to lower the standard of practice of veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia, and no arrangement for the mutual recognition of licenses shall be valid until it has been approved by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia.
Sec. 5. Practitioners exempt from examination. That any person who has received a diploma from a veterinary college lawfully authorized to confer the same and who has maintained an office for the practice of veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia on or before the passage of this Act, upon submission of proof of such facts to the board of examiners in veterinary Fee.medicine and the payment of a fee of one dollar, shall be licensed by said board to practice veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia Practitioners subject to examination.without examination.
Any person, not a graduate of a college lawfully authorized to confer a degree in veterinary medicine, who has been continuously engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia for five years previous to the passage of this Act and has maintained an office in said District for that purpose shall be permitted to present himself for examination before the board of veterinary examiners without fee, and upon proof of satisfactory knowledge of veterinary medicine shall be registered and licensed as a practitioner of veterinary medicine.
Sec. 6. Appeal from decision of board. That any person having been examined by said board of examiners in veterinary medicine and having been refused a license as the result of such examination may, within thirty days after formal notification of such refusal appeal from the decision of said board. Such appeal must be in writing, addressed to the Commissioners of said District, setting forth the ground upon which it is based, and Board of review.accompanied by a deposit of thirty dollars.
If, after examination of said appeal, said Commissioners deem it proper, they shall appoint a board of review, consisting of three practitioners of veterinary medicine having qualifications similar to those required of members of the regular board of examiners in veterinary medicine, which board shall Reexamination.review the examination of appellant, and if they deem necessary reexamine him and report their finding to said Commissioners: and such finding shall be final and binding upon all parties concerned, and if favorable to the appellant the board of examiners in veterinary medicine shall issue to him a license to practice veterinary medicine in saidFees.
District. Each member of said board of review shall be paid a fee of not more than ten dollars for each candidate examined, payment to be made from the deposit of the appellant if the finding is adverse to him, but otherwise from the funds of the board of examiners. If favorable the amount deposited shall be returned to the appellant. Sec. 7. Display of license. That every person practicing veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia, or representing himself or permitting himself to be represented as so practicing, shall display or cause to be displayed conspicuously in his usual place of business his license to Inspection.practice in said District.
Said place of business shall, during all reasonable hours, be open to inspection by any representative of the police department or of the board of examiners in veterinary medicine of said District, so far as may be, necessary to examine such licenses, and it shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with any inspection made or intended to be made for this purpose. Sec. 8. Persons regarded as practitioners. That from and after the passage of this Act any person shall be regarded as practicing veterinary medicine in the District of Columbia who shall, in said District, append or cause to be appended to his name the letters V.
S., D. V. M., V. M. D., M. D. V., M. D. C., D. V. S., or M. R. C. V. S., or the words “veterinary,” “veterinarian,” “veterinary surgeon,” or “veterinary dentist,” “veterinary farrier,” “veterinary horseshoer,” “ horse dentist,” or “ horse doctor,” 873or who shall prescribe, advise, or apply any drug or medicine or other agency, or who shall publicly profess to do any of these things, and shall charge or receive therefor money or other compensation, directly or indirectly: *Provided*, That any person may without compensation *Proviso.*Practicing without compensation.apply any medicine or remedy and perform any operation for the treatment, relief, or cure of any sick, diseased, or injured animal.
Sec. 9. That this Act shall not apply to veterinary surgeons in the Army, etc., veterinary surgeons not affected.Army or in the employ of the Agricultural Department who are graduates of regular veterinary colleges, nor to regularly licensed veterinarians in actual consultation from other States, nor to regularly licensed veterinarians actually called from other States to attend cases in the District of Columbia, but who do not open an office or appoint a place to do business within said District.
Sec. 10. That the board of examiners in veterinary medicine hereby Revocation of licenses.created may, by a vote of four members, revoke or suspend for a time certain the license of any person to practice veterinary medicine or any branch thereof in the District of Columbia after notice and hearing, for any of the following causes, namely: The employment of Causes.fraud or deception in passing the examinations or in obtaining a license, chronic inebriety, or conviction of crime involving moral turpitude.
The method of complaint, form and length of notice, and time of hearing charges against any licensee for any of the above causes shall be according to the rules and regulations to be made, subject to the approval of said Commissioners, as hereinbefore provided. Appeal from the decision of said board may be taken to the Appeals to court of appeals.court of appeals of the District of Columbia, and the decision of said court shall be final: *Provided*, That the Commissioners of the.
District *Proviso.*Costs, etc.of Columbia, the said board of review, and the board of examiners in veterinary medicine shall not, nor shall any of them, be required to pay costs, or give bond or security on appeal, or error or other proceeding in any court or courts of the District of Columbia growing out of any official duty or duties imposed on them, or any of them, by this Act. Sec. 11. That any person who shall violate or aid or abet in violating Penalty for violations.any of the provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the work-house of the District of Columbia for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Sec. 12. That it shall be the duty of the corporation counsel or one Prosecutions.of his assistants to prosecute all violations of the provisions of this Act. Approved, February 1, 1907.