JVMS Business Meeting: July 1, 2010
Call to order
Guests: Capt Rachel Lee at NAS Veterinary Treatment Facility
FVMA: Rick Sutliff
The beastiality bill did not pass.
Loopholes were closed once allowing out of country veterinarians the ability to practice without licensing for a few weeks at a time. It is now illegal to practice in the state of Florida without licensing.
A separate bill allowing veterinarians to practice without a license only in university setting was signed into law by the governor.
Our profession has maintained tax free status for services but this is in jeopardy.
There is also debate over prescription foods and whether they will retain their tax free status.
Veterinarians have been receiving letters of diversion requesting prescription medications. These solicitations can lead to license revoking.
The registration for accreditation for USDA licensing is due august1, 2010.
The small animal accreditation will require 3 hrs CE to complete in 5 yrs.
To maintain the USDA accreditation, veterinarians will need to submit continuing education with the application renewal.
There will be a joint fvma/jvms ce program Sunday, August 15. It will focus on the economics of our industry and local state congressmen may be in attendance.
Tentatively August 1 the FVMA portal will go live.
New business: none
Zoo Report: Nick Kapustin
During last year’s pet amnesty day over 60 animals were surrendered.
This year’s pet amnesty day is scheduled for Sept 25, 9am until 1pm for surrender time, 2pm until 5 or pm for adoptee distributions. A great volunteer base needed again for health assessments and to evaluate if the animals are adoptable or if there are any health concerns.
Committee reports:
Holiday party: Tracey LaDue
The University club dates fell through due to date conflicts and prices.
Other options are Club Continental in Orange Park and One Ocean Resort and Spa in Atlantic Beach.
Possible dates for the party are: dec 18 or a few January dates
We will be choosing a place and dates tonight to decide on for the Holiday party.
A motion was passed years ago to not allow vendors at the party.
University of Florida CVM: Russ Snyder
The College Advisory committee is in need of members and is especially interested in having women and younger members on the committee, especially since the majority of the profession is women. They meet twice a year. Cindy Miller expressed interest in the committee and was advised to contact Larry Dee who is the chairman of the committee.
What is the mission of the committee? The committee serves as a liaison between the university and the FVMA.
The Coating ceremony was initiated by this College Advisory committee and UF was the first university to have this.
Private practitioners are also needed on the admissions committee.
The College Advisory committee has implemented the present programs to seniors on practice management.
Participation from the community is necessary to continue this committee.
Dr Hoffman also expressed interest in the College Advisory Committee. Phil Hinkle will be contacted regarding potential new committee members.
Please let Dr Snyder know if anyone is interested in being on the committee.
The Circle of Excellence initiative is a way for the Dean to have funds for the unbudgeted items.
There are different levels on the Circle of Excellence with the minimum of $5,000 donation.
Dr Snyder made a motion for JVMS to join the circle of excellence as a group.
Currently the JVMS has sponsored an emergency fund at university for borrowing $500 for up to 6months interest free for students in need.
There is also a scholarship fund for $1000 each year for veterinary students from north Florida area.
Dr. Snyder states that JVMS has been a trend setter for a long time and this circle of excellence is a great opportunity for our organization to again step up.
Local association member, Ed McNight, second that motion for JVMS to contribute to the circle of excellence. According to our treasurer, Cindy Miller, the organization can afford this and suggested we cash out CD’s to obtain the money.
Dr. Snyder recommends the $5000 level and splitting it into $1000 per year for 5 yrs.
Ann Silverness discussed the history of JVMS and it was suggested we note these things on the JVMS website. Historical data should be posted on the website including the above donation to the Circle of Excellence, the scholarships and emergency loans available to students as well as what JVMS does for the community.
There was a motion to post this information on the website, there was a second and the vote on motion passed.
Dr. Sutliff: Dr. Snyder received a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the University of Florida CVM.
Treasurer report: Cindy Miller
Cindy has been treasurer for the past 5 yrs and is looking for someone new to take over.
She states there is approximately 1hr commitment per month for the position.
Contact the officers if you are interested.
The biggest task is sending dues notices.
Cindy is working on updating the dues paid members list.
Cindy has opened a yahoo account for JVMS and officers will have password for the account.
Dr. Snyder requested Dr. Cromer to take on the treasurer position or Dr. Mosley.
Website:
We need to update the address list and dues paid members list on the website.
Links have been added to the website for pet related websites.
Awards: Dr. Sutliff
Nothing to report right now
Dr. Williams and Dr. Hendricks received lifetime achievement awards.
There were a number of gold star award winners including Dr. Tracy Ladue.
A pet memorial garden at Safe Animal Shelter was funded by JVMS as a memorial for Howard Acree III, Dr. Acree’s son.
Dr Snyder proposed getting some press info about JVMS members making $10,000 donation in memorial of Howard Acree III at safe animal shelter.
Dr Gordon spearheaded the effort.
Dr. Langford getting sued by a client.
The vote on the minutes from the May JVMS meeting was approved.
The Treasurer report was approved.
FCNMHP:
Approximately 100 pets per day are spayed or neutered. There are multiple sources of money to draw from in their budget some of which do have low income requirements.
Pets euthanized at Animal Care and Control has decreased since FCNMHP have been in place.
Some in private practice state that this organization has changed how we practice medicine and there are some private practices afraid of going out of business as a result of the work done by FCNMHP.
FVMA is looking at weekend mobile vaccine clinics to make sure they are acting within parameters of the legal requirements for practicing veterinary medicine in the state of Florida. Part of the problem is there are no state inspectors on Saturdays, which is when these programs operate.
Is it a change for the better to have weekend mobile vaccine clinics and programs such as FCNMHP?
It was suggested that Dr. Levy should come to speak about feral cat populations and approaches from public health issues was also suggested by Doug Page.
Dr. Snyder stated that if an epidemiologist from the CDC came down and found ascarids in public areas such as parks, this would be a bigger public health concern.
Dr. Silverness brought up concerns with feral cat populations and rabies alerts. There are also concerns from these feral cats devastating local wildlife populations.
Trap neuter and release programs are controversial with some veterinarians being supporters and some are not because of public health concerns.
Dr. Snyder brought up community public health concerns regarding pet overpopulation.
The One health initiative investigates parasitic infections in local populations to check for zoonotic diseases.
It was proposed that JVMS should consider hosting a Continuing Education Forum regarding public health issues, tnr programs, ethics and feral cat colonies.
It was stated that Public health is number one priority for our profession from a legal perspective and is part of our veterinary oath.
Is FCNMHP meeting a need in the community? Are they getting funds from the spay jax program and are they screening based on financial need?