Lab C:
Samantha Deafenbaugh
Elena Sweazy
Naomi Schlesinger
Margaret Wiggin
Sarah Schreiber

Lab D:
Pamela Soda
Amber Kostelansky
Jenna Loncar
Kelsey Paras
Mary Talbott

Lab F:
Sara Stoneburg
Sherry Niggel
Megan Knoell
Lauren Barron
Jean Puccinelli

Lab G:
Briony Smith
Alana Brooks
Kate Scherer
Emily Marshall
Leahanne Lockard

Congratulations! Thanks to all for being student members of the OVMA!

The 13-member Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board was created to develop care standards for alpacas, beef, dairy, goats, horses, llamas, pork, poultry, sheep and veal, a task it has completed through dozens of meetings, listening sessions, and public input. Now that the rules are complete, the Board will be responsible for conducting inspections of Ohio livestock operations and investigating complaints to determine whether a violation has occurred.

Neglect or unintentional acts of substandard practices are considered minor violations, which incur a fine of up to $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. Major violations — reckless or intentional acts that put an animal’s life in imminent peril and/or cause protracted disfigurement, impairment of health, or the function of a limb or organ — incur fines between $1,000 and $5,000 for the first violation and $5,000 to $10,000 for subsequent violations.

As part of its education efforts, the department has developed printable guides to help producers understand the new standards. These guidance documents, as well as the full text of Ohio’s new species-specific livestock rules, are accessible via the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board website.

Violations can be reported directly to ODA’s Department of Animal Health at 614.728.6220 or animal@agri.ohio.gov. Should you need assistance understanding the rules or determining whether a violation has occurred, the OVMA is available to help answer questions at 800.662.6862 or ohiovma@ohiovma.org.

Feed your cash cow! Apply for an OVMA scholarship.

The OVMA invites all Student Members to apply for the second annual Leadership in Veterinary Medicine Scholarship, established to acknowledge and advance the importance of organized veterinary medicine at all stages of a veterinarian’s career.

The scholarship, a $500 award paid directly to OSU’s office of Fees and Deposits, is only available to current OSU College of Veterinary Medicine students in good academic standing who are also Student Members of the OVMA.

To learn more and to apply for the 2011 award, please visit the Student Section of the OVMA website. The deadline for application is Oct. 3, 2011.

Questions? Send us an email.

A previous notice announced that currently accredited veterinarians may continue to perform accredited duties until further notice, even if they had not received a date for their first accreditation renewal, because logistical difficulties prevented APHIS from processing currently accredited veterinarians (over 50,000) who elected to participate.

The USDA is now close to reaching its goal of processing these elections and is specifying Oct. 1 as the date by which veterinarians must elect to continue to participate in the NVAP. The accreditation of all currently accredited veterinarians who have not elected to participate in the program will expire, ending their authorization to perform accredited work.

For accredited veterinarians who have not yet elected to participate and would like to do so, APHIS has made available a Web seminar on the revisions to the NVAP and how to elect to participate.

For more information on the accreditation program and pending deadline, please visit the APHIS Web site.

Certain out-of-pocket expenses acquired while caring for stray animals have been OK’ed as a tax-deductible charitable contribution.

A recently publicized case allowed a taxpayer to deduct her out-of-pocket costs incurred in caring for fostered animals as a charitable contribution deduction (Van Dusen v. Commissioner, Dec. 58,642, 136 TC No. 25). The costs allowed by the court included veterinary care, pet supplies and household utilities. The court determined a portion of the claimed costs were indeed related to the taxpayer’s volunteer work with qualified section 501(c)(3) charitable organizations.

The Tax Court held that an attorney representing herself before the court could deduct a portion of her costs as unreimbursed volunteer expenses. The tax return at issue deducted $12,068 of costs, including $9,607 of veterinary bills.

The taxpayer used her residence as a foster home for about 80 undomesticated cats.  By providing the foster home, she effectively donated the costs of care to a recognized Code Sec. 501(c)(3) charitable group incident to her volunteer services. The group’s mission included use of foster homes for both short and long term care. The group could initiate or request the taxpayer’s volunteer services. The group indirectly guided her work with feral cats.

The taxpayer trapped feral cats, treated them for existing health conditions, had them sterilized and vaccinated, and then returned healthier animals to the wild (which was generally an urban or suburban environment). Some of the trapped cats were so young, old, sick, injured or tame that they had to remain in foster care until they found permanent adoptive homes.

The taxpayer’s records substantially complied with the Reg. §1.170A-13(a) rules for substantiating cash donations of less than $250, even though the records showed the amounts of the expenses and to whom they were paid, rather than the name of the charitable organization and the amounts donated. The court said she used the correct rules because donations of less than $250 were categorized either as cash or as property, and unreimbursed volunteer expenses more closely resembled cash donations. The taxpayer could not deduct expenses that exceeded $250 because she had not obtained contemporaneous acknowledgment from the charity, which is required by law.

The taxpayer had 70 to 80 foster cats and seven pet cats of her own, so the court determined she could deduct 90 percent of her veterinary and pet supply expenses of less than $250. She could also deduct 50 percent of her cleaning and utility expenses of less than $250, in the absence of a more precise indication of how much of those expenses were attributable to the foster cats. However, expenses that were not directly related to the foster cats, or that the taxpayer would have incurred in any case, were not deductible in any amount. These disallowed deductions included her bar dues, unidentified hardware store purchases, expenses to repair a vacuum cleaner, and the costs of cremating one of her pet cats.

| Download a PDF of the full case |

—By Jennifer M. Nelson, accountant, & Marsha L. Heinke, DVM, EA, CPA, CVPM
Marsha L. Heinke, CPA, Inc.

References: Wolters Kluwar CCH Practical Tax Bulletin 6/21/2011; United States Tax Court 136 T.C. No. 25, Docket No. 20767-08; http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/InOpHistoric/VanDusen.TC.WPD.pdf

The initiative, approved by the OVMA Board of Directors at its June meeting, will set aside $5 from every Midwest Veterinary Conference registration for the next five years into a fund to support veterinary and technician student scholarships and programs.

The OVMA estimates that this program will raise $17,500 in revenue each year, for a total nearing $90,000 over the five-year period.

Bill Summary*

H.R. 1406 would require the prescriber of an animal drug shall, whether or not requested, to:

1. Provide a copy of the veterinary prescription and a written disclosure that the pet owner may fill the prescription through the prescriber or through another pharmacy and
2. Provide or verify the prescription by electronic or other means consistent with applicable State law.

The prescriber would not be able to:

1. Require purchase of the animal drug for which the veterinary prescription was written,
2. Require payment in addition to, or as part of, the fee for an examination and evaluation as a condition of providing a copy of or verifying the prescription, or
3. Require the pet owner to sign a waiver or disclaim liability, or deliver to the pet owner a notice waiving or disclaiming liability of the prescriber for the accuracy of the veterinary prescription.

The prescriber would be allowed to require payment of fees for an examination and evaluation before providing a veterinary prescription, but only if the prescriber requires immediate payment in the case of an examination that reveals no requirement for an animal drug.

This legislation is modeled after the Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act, which passed in 2003, which placed similar requirements on optometrists regarding contact lens prescriptions. Bill proponents include Wal-Mart and PetMed Express.

*Read the full text of H.R. 1406

Request from AVMA*

AVMA is asking for members assistance in contacting Congressional offices expressing opposition to this bill. Of particularly importance at this time are contacts to Rep. Bob Latta (OH-5), who sits on the Energy & Commerce Committee, the committee to which this bill was referred and has to pass through before it can go to the full House for a vote.

The AVMA has an official position of “Active Pursuit of Defeat” of H.R. 1406, the Fairness to Pet Owners Act. AVMA maintains its policy stating that veterinarians should honor a client’s request for a written prescription in lieu of dispensing. The AVMA Governmental Relations Division has been working on this issue since last summer; however it is important for constituents to reach out to their Congressional representatives.

*Read the AVMA’s Issue Brief on H.R. 1406

April 28, 2011

It seems that every few months another undercover video is released by an animal rights organization showing abuse of animals on a farm or in a processing facility. Typically, when these abuses come to light, the AVMA condemns the behavior and encourages full prosecution of those responsible for the abuse. This is what we did following the release of the latest such video, which showed the horrifying abuse of calves at a cattle farm in Texas.

I stand by the statements we made in our press release; however, a press release no longer feels like an adequate response to these appalling abuses. While the AVMA understands that the abuse featured in these videos is not typical of most animal operations, the frequency with which these videos appear prohibits us from considering them as isolated incidents or accepting the excuse that the producers were unaware of the abuses taking place on their property. We’re seeing this happen much too often, and it’s time we take a stronger stance against such abuse. The bottom line is that we must have zero tolerance for these abuses, isolated or otherwise.

Too often, those in the industry seem more concerned about attacking those responsible for producing the videos than addressing the abuse depicted in them, and that attitude has got to change. Attempting to shift the blame is a denial of the real issue. If producers were treating the animals in a humane manner, there would be no need for undercover filming. Frankly, we can’t understand why responsible producers would object to being filmed, and would encourage producers, as Dr. Temple Grandin and others have suggested, to install cameras in their operations to show the world that they are treating their animals humanely.

These videos also show us the need for more veterinary oversight on our ranches, farms, livestock markets, and slaughter facilities. We believe that greater involvement and oversight by veterinarians would help to stop and prevent this kind of abuse. That being said, if it comes to our attention that any AVMA member is complicit in this type of abuse, we will bring them before the AVMA Judicial Council. We will also encourage the relevant authorities to investigate their involvement and take enforcement action as appropriate. This would include consideration of disciplinary action by the applicable state veterinary medical board.

A variety of organizations, including the AVMA, industry groups, humane organizations, and state and federal regulatory agencies, offer guidelines to protect the health and welfare of animals used to produce our food supply. Too often, however, these guidelines are ignored. There is no excuse for this. If those responsible for the good welfare of the animals in their care are unable or unwilling to follow these guidelines, then additional oversight, either through public pressure or regulation, may become a necessity. We can do it the easy way or we can do it the hard way. But either way, it must be done.

Sincerely,

W. Ron DeHaven, DVM, MBA
Executive Vice President

The action and discussion at the April 5 Livestock Care Board meeting followed a public comment period. More than 4,700 comments were submitted after the OLCSB decided at its March 1 meeting to remove from the proposed standards language thatstipulated the turnaround provision. The clear majority of those comments called for a return to the turnaround provision including statements to that effect from OVMA and AVMA.

Prior to the March 1 vote, OVMA President Dr. Lind Lord testified on behalf of OVMA, encouraging the Board to maintain the turnaround language in the standards. However, a motion to strike the language was passed by a 6-to-5 vote. OVMA’s position coincides with the AVMA’s position on Veal Calf management. The American Veal Association also calls for their members to convert to group housing (and implied therein, the ability to turn around) by Dec. 31, 2017.

The April 5th vote to reintroduce turnaround language (see actual language below) followed numerous discussions, concerns over the removal of the turnaround language violating the June 2010 “agreement” between agriculture groups, HSUS and then-Gov. Ted Strickland, a letter from several veal producers acquiescing that the turnaround language should be again included, and the above-mentioned extensive public comments. The motion to reinsert the previously stricken language passed unanimously despite some “charged” comments towards some turnaround language supporters (including OVMA) by one of the Board members. A subsequent motion to extend the Dec. 31, 2017, date for veal producers to comply failed to pass.

The proposed standards will soon move onto the next phase in the rule making process which includes a formal review by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review.

The language of the debated proposed veal standards “management” section C [draft rule section 901:12-5-03, section(C)] is as follows (reinserted language in bold italics):

(A) Individual pens for veal calves may be used under the following conditions:

1) Must allow for quality air circulation, permit opportunity for socialization between veal calves, with consideration given to ensuring the calf’s health is maintained, allow the calves to stand without impediment, provide for normal resting postures, groom, eat, lie down and rest;

2) Veal calves will be permitted to be tethered or non-tethered in stalls of a minimum 24 inch wide and 66 inches long until December 31, 2017;

3) After December 31, 2017, tethering may only be used in accordance with (E) of this rule,and an individual pen must permit a calf’s movement as described in paragraph (C) (1) of this rule and in addition the calf must be able to turn around; and

4) After December 31, 2017, veal calves must be moved to group pens by ten weeks of age.

Become a Session Presider or Assistant

A Session Presider serves as an “ambassador” to one or more Speakers. Presiders introduce the speaker before the session. (Don’t worry, we will prepare a short speech for you!) In the event of a problem, Session Assistants help to locate appropriate staff to resolve A/V equipment or room issues. Together, Presiders and Assistants help make the session run smoothly by troubleshooting any issues so the Speaker can continue his or her presentation.

Take your Conference experience to the next level by becoming a Session Presider or Session Assistant. Volunteer three or more hours, and you can attend the MVC for FREE! (Plus, you can earn SCAVMA points!)

Volunteer your pet as a demonstration animal

If your cat or dog is well-behaved and sociable, consider volunteering him or her as a demonstration animal for one of the MVC’s wet labs. You will be able to attend the lab along with your pet and observe the lecture and demonstrations. Students who volunteer for a wet lab will receive free parking and an appreciation gift.

Read more about these opportunities and what you get for participating on the MVC Student Volunteer page. Ready to sign up? Log in to the MVC Volunteer Hub.