HB 0641

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Agriculture Committee recommends the following:
2
3	Council/Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	A bill to be entitled
6	An act relating to animal service providers; amending s.
7	474.203, F.S.; providing that certain temporary employees
8	and independent contractors are exempt from ch. 474, F.S.,
9	relating to veterinary medical practice; expanding the
10	scope of exempt activities of an animal owner or the
11	animal owner's regular or temporary employee or
12	independent contractor; providing that certain independent
13	contractors administering certain nonmedical health care
14	services to animals are exempt, subject to certain
15	requirements; providing training and education
16	requirements for certain independent contractors;
17	providing an effective date.
18
19	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21	Section 1.  Subsection (5) of section 474.203, Florida
22	Statutes, is amended, and subsection (9) is added to that
23	section, to read:
24	474.203  Exemptions.--This chapter shall not apply to:
25	(5)  Any person, or the person's regular or temporary
26	employee, or the person's independent contractor administering
27	to the ills, or injuries, wellness, or normally accepted animal
28	husbandry practices of her or his own animals, including, but
29	not limited to, castration, spaying, farriery, nonmechanical
30	hand floating of teeth, debeaking, parasite control, and
31	dehorning of herd, livestock, or flock animals, unless title has
32	been transferred or employment provided for the purpose of
33	circumventing this law. This exemption shall not apply to out-
34	of-state veterinarians practicing temporarily in the state.
35	However, only a veterinarian may immunize or treat an animal for
36	diseases which are communicable to humans and which are of
37	public health significance.
38	(9)(a)  An independent contractor who, under the
39	supervision of a person who is administering to the wellness,
40	ills, or injuries of her or his own livestock, herd, or flock
41	animals, provides health care services to the animals. For
42	purposes of this subsection, the health care services described
43	in this paragraph are nonmedical, which means nonprescription
44	and nonsurgical, and consist of acupressure, aromatherapy,
45	animal communication, farriery, flower essence therapy,
46	homeopathy, light therapy, magnet therapy, massage and other
47	touch therapies, hydrotherapy, nutritional counseling, and
48	manual equine teeth floating.
49	(b)  An independent contractor who provides nonmedical
50	health care services described in this subsection for livestock,
51	herd, or flock animals and is not a veterinarian shall:
52	1.  Obtain an occupational license.
53	2.  Advise each owner of an animal that will be treated of
54	her or  his knowledge or experience with the services that will
55	be provided.
56	3.  Provide her or his credentials upon the request of each
57	owner of an animal that will be treated.
58	4.  Not engage in animal cruelty.
59	5.  Not advertise in any way that implies that she or he is
60	a veterinarian.
61	6.  Not diagnose or prognosticate.
62	(c)  Beginning July 1, 2008, an independent contractor who
63	offers any service described in this paragraph must be able to
64	demonstrate, upon request of the animal owner or an agency of
65	the state, that she or he has completed the minimum required
66	hours of training or education in the field of such service,
67	which training may include seminars, online education, classes,
68	courses, schools, internships or apprenticeships, case studies,
69	individual tutoring, or distributor or company training. An
70	internship or apprenticeship may comprise up to 25 percent of
71	the required minimum training or education hours. The minimum
72	required hours for each field of service are as follows:
73	1.  Animal acupressure: 120 hours.
74	2.  Aromatherapy: 50 hours, including 5 hours related to
75	animals.
76	3.  Flower essence therapy: 50 hours, including 5 hours
77	related to animals.
78	4.  Homeopathy: 120 hours, including 20 hours related to
79	animals.
80	5.  Light therapy: 20 hours.
81	6.  Magnet therapy: 20 hours.
82	7.  Animal massage or other animal touch therapies: 75
83	hours.
84	8.  Hydrotherapy: 15 hours.
85	9.  Animal nutritional counseling: 100 hours.
86
87	For the purposes of chapters 465 and 893, persons exempt
88	pursuant to subsection (1), subsection (2), or subsection (4)
89	are deemed to be duly licensed practitioners authorized by the
90	laws of this state to prescribe drugs or medicinal supplies.
91	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.