Legislative Action Alert: SB 413

Virginia residents: Please contact your legislators today and ask them to support SB 413, a bill which will allow the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to appropriately regulate the care for native wildlife!

Summary

SB 413, introduced by Senator Emmett Hanger at the request of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, will rectify a conflict that currently exists in state law. The Board of Veterinary Medicine has recently ruled that wildlife rehabilitators, and other individuals and organizations who hold wildlife possession permits issued by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, must also be licensed as a veterinarian or a veterinary technician if they provide any type of medical, preventative or therapeutic care to wild animals in their possession, since they do not “own” the animals they are authorized to possess. SB 413 would create a narrowly crafted exemption from this veterinary licensure for qualified individuals who hold a variety of wildlife possession permits issued by DGIF.

Please download and read this document.  This PDF includes additional details about SB413, including a background, analysis, and talking points.

February Update

Senate Bill 413, was reported out of the House Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources Committee by a 17-0 vote on February 19. The next step for SB413 will be passage by the full House of Delegates, which should take place in the next few days. Then, the legislation will be sent to the Governor for his signature. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Emmett Hanger, and Wildlife Center of Virginia President Ed Clark, were there to testify in support of the bill. 

 

Track the bill here.