MVMA QUARTERLY - SPRING 2022
Our Committees@Work Animal Welfare Committee
Force. If you know of a new or soon to be new graduate whose talents and passion may benefit this cause please contact Brittany Kennedy at bkennedyvet@gmail.com.
Current topics: - Education on animal cruelty and reporting guidelines -Dr. Schmidt – writing an update to go into the MVMA quarterly, appears to already be on MVMA website -Concerns that local law enforcement may not have knowledge on animal cruelty reporting and access on who to contact if any questions - Thoughts on posting on social media on where to find resources on Animal Cruelty - Access to care and resources available for those in financial need for Veterinary Care - Discuss using the Illinois video for Narcan Handout - Discussed St. Louis County and City declaw banning ordinances and the control of non-veterinarians determining the practice of veterinary medicine. - Updates on Avian Influenza - Concerns with proper disposal of large animals - Five Freedoms - How to recruit and invite Veterinarians to join the Animal Welfare Committee Past topics and accomplishments: - Canine Narcan exposure handout and access to Narcan Kits - Discussion and education on Swine Ventilation shut down - Discussion on Gas Chamber euthanasia in animal shelters - Discussion on Horseracing integrity act and horse soring - Discussion on Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program - Pet Oxygen Mask program Peggy Callow, DVM, and Tom Lenz, DVM - Co-chairs
Brittany Kennedy, DVM, and Natalie Branson, DVM - Co-chairs
The MVMA Animal Welfare Committee met at the MVMA Convention on January 2022.
Early Career Task Force
Meeting held January 28, 2022 at MVMA Convention The name of our task force changed from Recent Graduate and Collegiate Task Force to Early Career Task Force in order to better reflect our focus on colleagues in the first 10 years of their veterinary career. The Early Career Task Force held its annual meeting Saturday night of convention. The evening event welcomed early career veterinarians and Dr. Blackwell for a discussion on mentorship, early career challenges and the future of our profession. Following that, we had our annual student mixer with the CVM students and a panel of early career veterinarians. The students expressed appreciation for the opportunity to talk with veterinarians who were “out in the real world” and they felt comfortable raising questions, discussing career challenges and networking with future colleagues. Going forward we plan to continue to support early career veterinarians and provide opportunities for them to be more involved in the MVMA. In particular, we plan to continue to host our events at conference. Additionally, we hope to continue to build relationships with the Power of Ten-ers as they look to spread their “ripple effect” into the MVMA and into our workforce. Lastly, after 6 years of service Dr. Sarah Meineka is passing on the torch as the chair of the Task Force. Thank you Dr. Meineka for everything you have done for the task force through the years! Dr. Brittany Kennedy and Dr. Natalie Branson are the new co-chairs of the Early Career Task 23
Equine Committee
The Equine Committee met at the MVMA Convention on January 27, 2022. We plan to have an MVMA Summer Equine Meeting this year after a few years off. Because the Allen family has decided to discontinue the memorial lecture we usually hold on Saturday, we are having discussions whether to have a one or two day seminar. The speakers for Sunday, June 26 will be Drs. Elizabeth Giuliano and Lynn Martin on the topic of Equine Ophthalmology. Further details will be announced as plans are finalized. After a another successful MVMA Fall Equine Dentistry Seminar and Wet Lab in September 2021, we have decided to hold another seminar on September 30 – October 2, 2022. As of the committee meeting, before the dates were announced, the seminar was full if everyone on the wait list is able to attend those dates. The format will be the same as the previous seminars and will be again held at the Longmeadow Rescue Ranch near Union, Missouri. The committee discussed scope of practice issues affecting equine veterinarians, particularly in the realm of equine dentistry and chiropractic. We also discussed a potential threat to the carriage horse industry in St. Louis by individuals who wish to eliminate it. The MVMA Equine Committee will continue to monitor legislation and issues that will affect the practice of equine veterinary medicine. Bruce Whittle, DVM, Chair
Emergency Management & Public Health Committee
The MVMA membership committee met on Saturday, January 27, at the 2022 MVMA Convention. Submitted by: Catherine M. Vogelweid, DVM PhD The Emergency Management & Public Health Committee met in person on January 27, 2022 during the MVMA convention. During the meeting, a summary of the July 10, 2021 training for the Missouri Volunteer Vet Corps, “Livestock Trailer Accident Response” was presented. This workshop was attended by approximately 20 veterinarians and first-responders from the Cole County Fire Protection District. The January meeting included an update from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services was presented by Dr. Vogelweid, as Molly Baker could not attend in-person due to Covid-19 restrictions. This update summarized Missouri’s annual cases of rabies, cases of tick-borne diseases and the current status of Covid-19 transmission in animals. The AVMA’s Veterinary FirstResponder Certificate Program was summarized for attendees, and contact information about the program was provided. Alignment with Strategic Goals of the MVMA was discussed in detail. A full report can be found on the committee page of the website: www.movma.org/page 39/. Cathy Vogelweid, DVM, Chair
Legislative Committee
At our January convention and meeting, the Legislative committee discussed multiple pre-filed bills for the 2022 Legislative session as well as several topics that we suspected a bill to surface given the recent political climate and trends. We were able to relish in the success of our efforts to exclude veterinarians from the cumbersome burden of reporting use of controlled drugs to a centralized (continued next page)
