Low-Cost Veterinary Services Threatened by Texas Bill

AUSTIN, Texas - March 29, 2019 - PRLog -- March 29, 2019

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Kasey Chayeb
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Low-Cost Veterinary Services Threatened by Texas Bill

On Monday, April 1 at 10:30 a.m., the Texas Agriculture & Livestock Committee (https://house.texas.gov/committees/committee/?committee=C020) will hold a public hearing on House Bill 3806 (https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/schedules/html/C0202019040110301.HTM). This pending legislation would effectively and dramatically limit what low-cost animal wellness clinics across the entire state of Texas can offer to the public.

H.B. 3806, an act related to veterinary services by releasing agencies, would limit agencies that help many people and their pets with important, lifesaving wellness services. According to animal welfare organization Best Friends Animal Society, the most damaging effects of this law are the creation of an unnecessary regulatory scheme that would forbid nonprofit veterinary organizations from providing any services other than spay/neuter surgeries and vaccinations and would require proof that a pet owner is enrolled in a state or federal aid program, such as Medicaid, before that person's pet can receive these services.

"House Bill 3806 would restrict who can receive low-cost veterinary services in Texas," said Austin Pets Alive! Executive Director Dr. Ellen Jefferson. "This ill-conceived bill would put animal welfare back decades. We really need people to speak out in opposition to this legislation," said Jefferson.

House Bill 3806 would result in fewer Texans having access to low-cost spay/neuter services and other services, such as annual vaccinations and general wellness care. Additionally, because this bill would ultimately result in increased burdens for pet owners, it would increase the likelihood of owner surrenders, placing undue burden, costs, and resources on animal control departments and resulting in greater suffering of homeless pets.

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American Pets Alive! is a national program dedicated to No Kill advocacy and providing education, mentorship and hands-on support to animal sheltering professionals, volunteers and advocates. Our mission is to urgently save the lives of companion animals from unnecessary deaths in shelters. American Pets Alive! is a program of Austin Pets Alive!, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on helping the healthy and treatable pets at risk of euthanasia at municipal shelters.