Loch Ness has Tessie. Animal Planet has Bigfoot. Stables and pastures have horse flies.
And although it has yet to be conclusively documented, some horse flies reportedly have been observed by entomology students on Spring Break to be bearing tiny saddles, and sitting on those tiny saddles are tiny cowboys wearing boots with tiny spurs, the use of which reportedly creates the erratic flight patterns of the horse flies.
These stories of mystery and myth are intriguing for the mystery and for the lengths people will go to prove the tales to be true. So what should one do upon finally proving the myth to be true? Accept it for what it is and move on. Stay normal, like the old guy with the frog. You know the story.
Two elderly gentlemen are conducting their customary evening stroll through the woods. A frog along a favorite pathway seeks their attention.
"Guys, guys", shouts the frog. "Guys, somebody pick me up and give me a kiss. Guys, guys, I’m tellin’ you. Pick me up, give me a kiss, I will turn into a beautiful princess, and then BAM! We make crazy, passionate love all night!"
"Guys!"
One of the gentlemen bends over, picks up the frog, puts it into his jacket pocket, and the old-timers continue down the path.
The frog becomes frantic. "Hey, get me outa here! Didn’t you hear me! Give me a kiss, I will turn into a beautiful princess, and then BAM! We make crazy, passionate love all night!"
Calmly, the old man with the frog in his pocket answers: "I would rather have a talking frog."
The problem with real horse flies is that they want to become intimate with your horse whenever they can. And that could be deadly for your horse. Horse flies are transmission vectors for equine infectious anemia. Equine infectious anemia is transmitted by blood-sucking insects, including horse flies. Anemia, irregular heart beat, swelling in extremities and lower abdomen, and death may be the result. There may be cases of chronic EIA which leave the horse in a debilitated state over a sustained period of time. All horses that test positive for EIA must be reported to federal authorities. The owner of the horse that tests positive has three options: send the horse to a recognized research facility, or place it in quarantine for life, or euthanize the horse.
Horses that cross state lines routinely are tested for EIA using the Coggins test. Horses that test negative receive a certificate that they have tested negative. Horses that are imported from abroad are tested for EIA.
So finally we get to the point of this narrative: insects that feed from a diseased horse and then feed on a healthy horse can infect your healthy horse with EIA. So you want to keep your healthy horse away from diseased horses. But you do not own your own farm, your own stable, your own pasture. You board your horse. Here is my suggestion: before you choose your boarding facility, investigate. Does your boarding facility deny boarding to any horse which is unable to provide a current Coggins test certificate showing that the horse tests negative for EIA? Your safest boarding alternative is a facility that is safe upon inspection for sanitation, physical suitability, and that employs rigid safeguards against the spread of infectious diseases. Find out if the boarding operation only boards horses that have up to date test certificates showing them to be negative for EIA.
A few weeks ago I visited a boarding facility. I heard what sounded like a harmonica being played, followed by yodeling. I looked everywhere. The only identifiable objects meeting my gaze were multiple deposits of horse manure of varying freshness and horse flies flying erratically. Next time I visit I am taking along a butterfly net. I decided against carrying a shovel.
Mount up, Ladies and Dudes.
Gary D. Malfeld
Monday, May 20, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
IMPORTING HORSES INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A few days ago I watched a woman cradle in one of her arms the head of a six year old Thoroughbred mare. The woman whispered sweet nothings in the mare’s ear. The mare closed her eyes in a trance of deep contentment. I listened intently to see if I could hear the mare purring like a kitten. This was an example of cross-species communion.
Years ago when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer trainee. Another trainee was practicing horsemanship as part of preparation to live in rural areas of South America where personal transportation was provided by beasts of burden. His horse reared up and the rider slid backwards behind the horse and onto the ground. The horse sat down upon the rider and broke the rider’s pelvis.
Horses are not kittens. They are not lap dogs. They are not treated as pets by most legal regimes in most places in most countries. And for purposes of movement across international borders, they are treated as disposable products. Many of the rules of buying and selling across international borders apply, matters such as when ownership passes, when risk of loss passes, payment terms, third party liability, and so on. And sometimes, just as with a bag of spoiled or contaminated onions imported from abroad, upon inspection at their U.S. port of entry they might face being thrown away. By being thrown away, I mean that they might be euthanized.
The United States Department of Agriculture maintains an animal import center headquarters and field quarantine facilities in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Those seeking to import horses from abroad must seek a permit for importation from the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) before shipping from the country of origin. Miami, Florida is one of several approved ports for entry of horses into the United States.
To be admitted, a horse upon admission at a U.S. port cannot have been on premises where African horse sickness, dourine, glanders, surra, epizootic lymphangitis, ulcerative lymphangitis, equine piroplasmosis, equine infectious anemia (EIA), contagious equine metritis (CEM), vesicular stomatitis, or Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) have occurred during the 60 days immediately preceding exportation, nor should these diseases have occurred on any adjoining premises
during this same period of time.
A horse projected for importation cannot have been in a country where CEM (contagious equine metritis) is known to exist, nor have had any contact, breeding or otherwise, with horses from such a country, for the 12 months preceding exportation. The horse must have been inspected and found to be free of ectoparasites.
In this very brief presentation I am going to discuss, inter alia, the phrase adjoining premises. The importer seeking to import a horse into the U.S. from abroad must receive certifications from specified authorities in the country from which the horse is being imported that the horse meets the criteria to qualify for importation. One of the items for certification is that the horse during the 60 days immediately preceding exportation did not have any of the diseases listed, nor did the diseases occur on any adjoining premises
during this same period of time.
A practical application of the rule could involve the following: the importer requires that the exporter check the target horse check for all of the diseases listed above. If the horse is found clean of everything, and if it can be proven that the horse has been on what might be identified as "clean premises" for 60 days, the horse is ready for exportation. And I would suggest that the horse should be transported by clean means (chain of logistics) from departure to arrival at the U.S. port.
If the target horse has a disease that can be cured, and the economic arrangements can be reached between seller and buyer, then if the horse is cured it should be moved to a clean zone not adjoining where the horse has been previously, and remain in the clean zone for 60 days before being exported. One cannot predict with certainty what the USDA will do in a specific case, but my own research leads me to believe that the phrase adjoining premises are premises which touch and are connected, or in contact, with the other premises involved, rather than those merely lying near or adjacent. That means that the safe zone, the clean zone for holding horses for 60 days, can be close to the premises which in and of themselves would disqualify the horse from entering the United States.
Now we will discuss due diligence. If you are the buyer/importer and you totally trust the exporter/seller, and you are satisfied that as to each, your word is your bond, you may some day be the proud owner of a horse imported into the United States which is euthanized by the United States Department of Agriculture because it harbored a prohibited disease. At least try to take pictures of the horse while it is vital and breathing, something to cherish. But if you are even slightly anal, do due diligence. Identify the diseases endemic to the area from which your target horse originates. Understand which of the diseases are treatable and which are not. Have thorough and complete testing done, and make sure the purchase contract does not become binding unless the horse gets a clean bill of health. Find out who will be doing the testing and certification, and decide whether you are willing to trust the results. Make sure that the horse testing clean or becoming clean after treatment stays for 60 days in a clean holding zone prior to exportation. Check out each link in the logistics chain from start to finish. Make sure there is no chance of infection or re-infection resulting from a contaminated link in the logistics chain. And then hold your breath. And when you start breathing again, mount up and ride, Ladies and Dudes.
Gary D. Malfeld
Years ago when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer trainee. Another trainee was practicing horsemanship as part of preparation to live in rural areas of South America where personal transportation was provided by beasts of burden. His horse reared up and the rider slid backwards behind the horse and onto the ground. The horse sat down upon the rider and broke the rider’s pelvis.
Horses are not kittens. They are not lap dogs. They are not treated as pets by most legal regimes in most places in most countries. And for purposes of movement across international borders, they are treated as disposable products. Many of the rules of buying and selling across international borders apply, matters such as when ownership passes, when risk of loss passes, payment terms, third party liability, and so on. And sometimes, just as with a bag of spoiled or contaminated onions imported from abroad, upon inspection at their U.S. port of entry they might face being thrown away. By being thrown away, I mean that they might be euthanized.
The United States Department of Agriculture maintains an animal import center headquarters and field quarantine facilities in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Those seeking to import horses from abroad must seek a permit for importation from the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) before shipping from the country of origin. Miami, Florida is one of several approved ports for entry of horses into the United States.
To be admitted, a horse upon admission at a U.S. port cannot have been on premises where African horse sickness, dourine, glanders, surra, epizootic lymphangitis, ulcerative lymphangitis, equine piroplasmosis, equine infectious anemia (EIA), contagious equine metritis (CEM), vesicular stomatitis, or Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) have occurred during the 60 days immediately preceding exportation, nor should these diseases have occurred on any adjoining premises
during this same period of time.
A horse projected for importation cannot have been in a country where CEM (contagious equine metritis) is known to exist, nor have had any contact, breeding or otherwise, with horses from such a country, for the 12 months preceding exportation. The horse must have been inspected and found to be free of ectoparasites.
In this very brief presentation I am going to discuss, inter alia, the phrase adjoining premises. The importer seeking to import a horse into the U.S. from abroad must receive certifications from specified authorities in the country from which the horse is being imported that the horse meets the criteria to qualify for importation. One of the items for certification is that the horse during the 60 days immediately preceding exportation did not have any of the diseases listed, nor did the diseases occur on any adjoining premises
during this same period of time.
A practical application of the rule could involve the following: the importer requires that the exporter check the target horse check for all of the diseases listed above. If the horse is found clean of everything, and if it can be proven that the horse has been on what might be identified as "clean premises" for 60 days, the horse is ready for exportation. And I would suggest that the horse should be transported by clean means (chain of logistics) from departure to arrival at the U.S. port.
If the target horse has a disease that can be cured, and the economic arrangements can be reached between seller and buyer, then if the horse is cured it should be moved to a clean zone not adjoining where the horse has been previously, and remain in the clean zone for 60 days before being exported. One cannot predict with certainty what the USDA will do in a specific case, but my own research leads me to believe that the phrase adjoining premises are premises which touch and are connected, or in contact, with the other premises involved, rather than those merely lying near or adjacent. That means that the safe zone, the clean zone for holding horses for 60 days, can be close to the premises which in and of themselves would disqualify the horse from entering the United States.
Now we will discuss due diligence. If you are the buyer/importer and you totally trust the exporter/seller, and you are satisfied that as to each, your word is your bond, you may some day be the proud owner of a horse imported into the United States which is euthanized by the United States Department of Agriculture because it harbored a prohibited disease. At least try to take pictures of the horse while it is vital and breathing, something to cherish. But if you are even slightly anal, do due diligence. Identify the diseases endemic to the area from which your target horse originates. Understand which of the diseases are treatable and which are not. Have thorough and complete testing done, and make sure the purchase contract does not become binding unless the horse gets a clean bill of health. Find out who will be doing the testing and certification, and decide whether you are willing to trust the results. Make sure that the horse testing clean or becoming clean after treatment stays for 60 days in a clean holding zone prior to exportation. Check out each link in the logistics chain from start to finish. Make sure there is no chance of infection or re-infection resulting from a contaminated link in the logistics chain. And then hold your breath. And when you start breathing again, mount up and ride, Ladies and Dudes.
Gary D. Malfeld
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
HORSE FLUFF AND SERIOUS STUFF
Is PETA involved in song-writing?
I was driving in rush hour traffic listening to a country music radio station when these lyrics blared out: "save the horse ride a cowboy". What the hell does that mean?
Update on horsemeat:
Valley Meat Co. in Roswell, New Mexico expects to open its horse slaughter plant April 29, 2013.
Getting the medical records for your horse from your veterinarian:
Florida Statutes section 474.2165. Ownership and control of veterinary medical patient records; report or copies of records to be furnished.
(2) Each person who provides veterinary medical services shall maintain medical records, as established by rule.
(3) Any records owner licensed under this chapter who makes an examination of, or administers treatment or dispenses legend drugs to, any patient shall, upon request of the client or the client's legal representative, furnish, in a timely manner, without delays for legal review, copies of all reports and records relating to such examination or treatment, including X rays. The furnishing of such report or copies shall not be conditioned upon payment of a fee for services rendered.
You do not need to give your veterinarian a reason. You make your request. You have a right to receive your records. Mount up, Ladies and Dudes.
Gary D. Malfeld
I was driving in rush hour traffic listening to a country music radio station when these lyrics blared out: "save the horse ride a cowboy". What the hell does that mean?
Update on horsemeat:
Valley Meat Co. in Roswell, New Mexico expects to open its horse slaughter plant April 29, 2013.
Getting the medical records for your horse from your veterinarian:
(2) Each person who provides veterinary medical services shall maintain medical records, as established by rule.
(3) Any records owner licensed under this chapter who makes an examination of, or administers treatment or dispenses legend drugs to, any patient shall, upon request of the client or the client's legal representative, furnish, in a timely manner, without delays for legal review, copies of all reports and records relating to such examination or treatment, including X rays. The furnishing of such report or copies shall not be conditioned upon payment of a fee for services rendered.
You do not need to give your veterinarian a reason. You make your request. You have a right to receive your records. Mount up, Ladies and Dudes.
Gary D. Malfeld
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
TOO MANY HORSES?
Peaceful Ridge Rescue cut the red ribbon at its home in Davie, Florida on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Local government dignitaries participated in the ceremony to officially open the horse rescue facility. More than a few horses also were present for the event. The rescue motto is "A Home for Every Horse".
A few days ago a friend in White Plains, New York told me that a small breeding farm in his neck of the woods had reduced its foal output. Demand for horse acquisition had diminished during the Great Recession.
A veterinarian recently lamented that too many horse owners could not afford to feed their horses, could not place them elsewhere, and could not afford to euthanize them and dispose of the remains. The economy impacts equines.
I do not have reliable statistics to answer the questions. How many horses nationwide have suffered the consequences of the Great Recession over the last few years? How many horse owners bought horses even though their financial circumstances did not justify taking on such a heavy responsibility? Does our equine population exceed our carrying ability, at least in multiple locations, with no likelihood that the excess populations can be relocated to areas with greater carrying capacity?
Perhaps, over time, the market place sorts it all out. Certainly that could happen and likely will happen if we view horses as a commodity, not unlike wheat, or petroleum, or the proverbial widgets. There will be a new equilibrium. But for the most part in the U.S. we do not perceive horses to be widgets, or as mere commodities to be bought and sold like inanimate objects, or even like pork bellies.
There are those who truly care about animal welfare, including horse welfare. But they will tell you that when the equine population significantly exceeds the economic carrying capacity of a given area, it may be more humane to allow some horse owners the option of selling their horses for slaughter, ostensibly in the least distressing manner possible for the horses, then to simply let them die a lingering death over time under the ownership of people trapped by their inability to either care for or relocate their animals. You do not need to accept that viewpoint. You can insist that the only humane alternative, the only moral alternative, the only ethical alternative, is for communities to provide rescue facilities.
Over a period of several years local governments have struggled to fund basic governmental services, including police, fire, schools and programs for the elderly and the homeless among the human animal population also struggling to survive. So the resources to fund the demands for equine rescue services will not typically be provided by government at levels equal to the need. And that is why non-governmental equine rescue services find a ready demand for their efforts.
If you are one of those people who believe that it is morally and ethically wrong to control equine populations by treating horses as just another commodity, as simply raw material for the slaughterhouse, and you cannot ignore the fact that some horses will die lingering deaths caused by malnutrition and lack of medical care due to owner neglect, then perhaps you have a moral duty and an ethical duty to pony up. It takes money to save horses. It takes money to provide a home for every horse. It takes money to provide a home for any horse.
Maybe some of you read my comments about horse meat in my prior blog. If you are convinced of your own virtue, convinced of the rightness of your own values, and your values are not consistent with horse slaughter or horse abandonment, then find your checkbook and write a check payable to Peaceful Ridge Rescue, which is s a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Better yet, go to their website at http://peacefulridgerescue.com/
and click on the "donate" button. Consult with your CPA and make sure your donation is big enough to reduce your federal income tax liability. Don’t be a neigh-sayer. Make a difference. Mount up, Ladies and Dudes.
Gary D. Malfeld
A few days ago a friend in White Plains, New York told me that a small breeding farm in his neck of the woods had reduced its foal output. Demand for horse acquisition had diminished during the Great Recession.
A veterinarian recently lamented that too many horse owners could not afford to feed their horses, could not place them elsewhere, and could not afford to euthanize them and dispose of the remains. The economy impacts equines.
I do not have reliable statistics to answer the questions. How many horses nationwide have suffered the consequences of the Great Recession over the last few years? How many horse owners bought horses even though their financial circumstances did not justify taking on such a heavy responsibility? Does our equine population exceed our carrying ability, at least in multiple locations, with no likelihood that the excess populations can be relocated to areas with greater carrying capacity?
Perhaps, over time, the market place sorts it all out. Certainly that could happen and likely will happen if we view horses as a commodity, not unlike wheat, or petroleum, or the proverbial widgets. There will be a new equilibrium. But for the most part in the U.S. we do not perceive horses to be widgets, or as mere commodities to be bought and sold like inanimate objects, or even like pork bellies.
There are those who truly care about animal welfare, including horse welfare. But they will tell you that when the equine population significantly exceeds the economic carrying capacity of a given area, it may be more humane to allow some horse owners the option of selling their horses for slaughter, ostensibly in the least distressing manner possible for the horses, then to simply let them die a lingering death over time under the ownership of people trapped by their inability to either care for or relocate their animals. You do not need to accept that viewpoint. You can insist that the only humane alternative, the only moral alternative, the only ethical alternative, is for communities to provide rescue facilities.
Over a period of several years local governments have struggled to fund basic governmental services, including police, fire, schools and programs for the elderly and the homeless among the human animal population also struggling to survive. So the resources to fund the demands for equine rescue services will not typically be provided by government at levels equal to the need. And that is why non-governmental equine rescue services find a ready demand for their efforts.
If you are one of those people who believe that it is morally and ethically wrong to control equine populations by treating horses as just another commodity, as simply raw material for the slaughterhouse, and you cannot ignore the fact that some horses will die lingering deaths caused by malnutrition and lack of medical care due to owner neglect, then perhaps you have a moral duty and an ethical duty to pony up. It takes money to save horses. It takes money to provide a home for every horse. It takes money to provide a home for any horse.
Maybe some of you read my comments about horse meat in my prior blog. If you are convinced of your own virtue, convinced of the rightness of your own values, and your values are not consistent with horse slaughter or horse abandonment, then find your checkbook and write a check payable to Peaceful Ridge Rescue, which is s a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Better yet, go to their website at http://peacefulridgerescue.com/
and click on the "donate" button. Consult with your CPA and make sure your donation is big enough to reduce your federal income tax liability. Don’t be a neigh-sayer. Make a difference. Mount up, Ladies and Dudes.
Gary D. Malfeld
Monday, February 11, 2013
HORSEMEAT
This writer will, sometimes, post articles intended to impart helpful information. Sometimes the intent will be to provoke thought, to examine values, and to explore distinct points of view. The article that follows is intended to provoke thought, to examine values, and to explore distinct points of view. The reader should not assume that the text accurately reflects this writer’s personal values or points of view on specific questions.
This is not a philosophical debate. We are just rearranging our prejudices. [Anonymous].
La Gitana (The Gypsy) was a black Paso Fino mare owned by the United States Peace Corps. She served as my means of transportation on the mountain trails of the Eastern Range of the Andes in Colombia during my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer. La Gitana covered the most difficult terrain with complete safety and sure-footedness. On level ground, or even during an ill-advised mad dash down the unlit mountain on a treacherous trail at night time, she was a joy to ride.
What made La Gitana special was her disposition. She never refused to face the task before her, whether it be ascending or descending on a rocky pathway, jumping over a low lying stone fence, or fording a fast flowing stream after a heavy rain. And she was feisty as all hell.
I was a Peace Corps Volunteer working the Colombian countryside, organizing rural people to help themselves. After a sally on horseback into some remote destination, I would return to the town where I lived and entrust the care of La Gitana to a twelve year old boy who was an accomplished horseman in his own right.
I delighted in La Gitana’s response to human speech. One afternoon I decided to demonstrate to her young caretaker just how responsive La Gitana could be to my spoken words. I hurled a string of pungent insults at her. Immediately she whipped her head around and bit me in the nipple. It hurt like all get out. I never did that again.
La Gitana hated shoeing. One time I was replacing her shoes. I had just tapped a horseshoe nail through the outer wall of her right rear hoof. She let loose with a violent kick, and drove the tip of the nail into the bone of the middle finger on my right hand. Decades later, I retain the scar as a souvenir of our sometimes adversarial relationship. Sometimes she treated me as her equal. I admired her greatly.
Tex was a Hereford steer in the feedlot of the family farm the barnyard of which is displayed in the photograph on the home page of my website, www.equinelawfl.com. He was simply one of many cattle being fattened for slaughter. We developed a bond of friendship and trust, boy and bovine. As he milled around the enclosure of the sale barn with his companions and the auctioneer sang out the bidding, he came to me as I stood on the other side of the wire chainlink, his eyes wild with fear. There was nothing to be done by me. And then he was gone.
Well, Ladies and Dudes, Tex ended up on a human dinner plate. I do not know what happened to La Gitana after her retirement from public service, but under similar circumstances a horse today in Florida would not end up on someone's dinner plate. Not legally anyway. Why? Because it is unlawful for any person to sell in the markets of Florida horse meat for human consumption unless the horse meat is clearly stamped, marked, and described as horse meat for human consumption.
In the United States as of yet there are no slaughter facilities authorized by government for the killing of horses and processing of their meat for human consumption. So there is no horse meat marked for human consumption. Several businesses, some of them in Missouri, have sought such authority. They would require federal inspection, and even today federal funding for inspection is not a given in light of strong public opposition to horse slaughter for the human dinner table. It is not likely that in the foreseeable future such horse slaughterhouse facilities will be operating in the State of Florida.
Unless you are a vegan, your value choices are not necessarily internally consistent. Hogs are at least as smart as horses, and pot-bellied pigs are popular pets. Maybe you smell the ham baking in the oven as you read this. Or hear the bacon sizzling in the pan. Tex was not a horse. Think about charcoal flavored juicy steak on the grill and a cold bottle of beer on a hot summer day.
It comes down to this: in the United States of America predominant cultural values more other than not are reflected in laws. For historical reasons and cultural tradition, horses are protected from the fate awaiting most other domestic farm animals. Both religion and economics have played a role in our contemporary attitudes regarding human consumption of horse meat. As early as 732, Pope Gregory III banned horsemeat for human consumption because it was viewed as part of pagan ritual. But as is so often the case economics, military considerations and social class all have played their part.
It takes little effort to imagine that horses would be more useful as means of transportation and death delivery systems than, say, cows, pigs, goats or chickens. Not many knights in shining armor saddled up and mounted a cow to search for military conquest. Yes, oxen were (and still are) used to plow fields, but certainly horses were found to provide far more effective and a greater variety of services in agriculture and transportation than other species of domestic animals. Horses were, comparatively, more useful to mankind in ways that would endure and could be repreated daily than as a one time source of animal protein on the dinner plate.
The taboos against consuming horses for human fooed tended to fade away, at least for some, in times of famine and scarcity. The ravages of war, economic hard times, and desperate need for affordable sustenance led from time to time by those at the bottom of the economic ladder ladder to consume horsemeat, and especially from horses no longer suitable for other purposes, even if their more affluent neighbors scorned horsemeat as food for the rabble.
Notwithstanding the historical taboos against conumption of horsemeat in Western society, today if you travel to Europe, or Latin America, or Asia, you will find human consumers of horse meat who do not beat their spouses, do take good care of their children, go to church or its equivalent, and are otherwise just good, all around decent neighbors. And what does that tell us? We make laws motivated by emotion as much as by reason. Maybe we can call it democracy.
Gary D. Malfeld
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Equine Purchase Checklist
The reader is invited to rate the importance of each of the items listed in the Equine Purchase Checklist which follows and to add other items to the checklist to make it more useful and reliable.
Checklist:
1. Description of animal: name, age, breed, gender, height, color
2. Breed registry identification and documentation
3. Seller proof of ownership and whether one or multiple owners and percentage of ownership interest of each
4. Right to examination of animal by veterinarian of buyer’s choice prior to purchase with purchase conditioned upon buyer’s satisfaction with examination.
5. Have animal perform to Buyer’s satisfaction and to what extent and under what conditions prior to purchase.
6. Contact information for prior veterinarian caregivers of the subject animal.
7. Current location of animal and whether pasture, paddock or stable.
8. Animal’s existing dietary routine
9. Shot and health records
10. Contact information for prior farriers
11. Seller’s representations as to prior health records of animal and current physical condition of animal
12. Name of sire and dam and breed registry and other pertinent information as to both
13. Existence of insurance of any kind for the animal and whether transferable
14. If a mare, whether she is in foal and expected foaling date
Name of sire of foal and information on sire; breed registry if any, owner of sire;
contact information on owner of sire
15. If stallion, breeding history if any and identification of progeny
16. Training history; contact information for trainer(s)
17. If competition animal, history of shows and results, or if racing, history of racing experience and results.
18. Identification of all costs that will be involved in the transaction and which costs are responsibility of seller and which costs are responsibility of buyer
19. Seller cooperation in changing ownership in respective breed registry and associations relevant to animal ownership and activities.
Thank you for sharing
Gary Malfeld
Checklist:
1. Description of animal: name, age, breed, gender, height, color
2. Breed registry identification and documentation
3. Seller proof of ownership and whether one or multiple owners and percentage of ownership interest of each
4. Right to examination of animal by veterinarian of buyer’s choice prior to purchase with purchase conditioned upon buyer’s satisfaction with examination.
5. Have animal perform to Buyer’s satisfaction and to what extent and under what conditions prior to purchase.
6. Contact information for prior veterinarian caregivers of the subject animal.
7. Current location of animal and whether pasture, paddock or stable.
8. Animal’s existing dietary routine
9. Shot and health records
10. Contact information for prior farriers
11. Seller’s representations as to prior health records of animal and current physical condition of animal
12. Name of sire and dam and breed registry and other pertinent information as to both
13. Existence of insurance of any kind for the animal and whether transferable
14. If a mare, whether she is in foal and expected foaling date
Name of sire of foal and information on sire; breed registry if any, owner of sire;
contact information on owner of sire
15. If stallion, breeding history if any and identification of progeny
16. Training history; contact information for trainer(s)
17. If competition animal, history of shows and results, or if racing, history of racing experience and results.
18. Identification of all costs that will be involved in the transaction and which costs are responsibility of seller and which costs are responsibility of buyer
19. Seller cooperation in changing ownership in respective breed registry and associations relevant to animal ownership and activities.
Thank you for sharing
Gary Malfeld
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Your Horse Died
The best and brightest students become veterinarians. It might be true that it is harder for a student to be accepted into veterinary medicine school than into a medical school dedicated to the care of people. But veterinarians are people. They make mistakes. And the mistakes sometimes have fatal or otherwise disastrous consequences for their patients. Over the course of a veterinarian’s career, his or her good works most likely will far exceed his or her failings.
A medical doctor on the faculty of a well known university once told me that more people die from medical malpractice every year than from automobile accidents in the United States. I do not know how he knows. But I trust his honesty and his knowledge. I suspect it would be far more difficult to reach conclusions about the percentage of fatalities among non-human animals as a consequence of veterinary malpractice.
If a clergyman, or a war hero, or a housewife who raises her kids with great care and devotion causes an automobile accident that results in injury or death to someone else, he or she may be held accountable. This happens even though the person’s virtues greatly exceed his or her failings. Mistakes have consequences, even when those mistakes are not intentioned. You may lament the unfairness of it, but that is the reality. It is part of the rules of the game. And the rules of the game are the laws our society has adopted from centuries of Anglo Saxon law, Common Law, which predates the American Revolution. That law is as much a part of our lives as the air we breathe.
So you took your horse to the veterinary hospital for a medical procedure and the horse died under the care and supervision of veterinary medical staff. There are two initial questions to consider: 1) did the horse die because of medical malpractice, and 2) do you care one way or another?
Maybe the horse would have died no matter what the medical staff did or did not do. So even if there was malpractice, it makes no difference for the outcome. But suppose it did make a difference. For it to be malpractice, the veterinarian must have performed in such a way that his or her performance was not in accordance with the usual judgment, skill and care ordinarily required in the practice of veterinary medicine, and because of that failure the horse died. Maybe the failure was too obvious to you for you to need expert advice to decide the vet failed. You know the only explanation as to why your horse died is because the vet killed it. But if you go to a court to prove your point, you will need an expert witness to confirm your own conclusion. You will need the opinion of another veterinarian. And he or she will testify as to whether your vet performed in accordance with the usual judgment, skill and care ordinarily required in the practice of veterinary medicine. And he or she will require payment from you.
But do you care the horse died? You like the vet. You did not like the horse anyway. Maybe it was a gift from your in-laws and you always hated it. Or maybe the horse was worth $200.00 on the open market and suing to get $200.00 is not worth the aggravation. So you walk away, and pet your cat.
Well, you want to go ahead. The vet is treating you disdainfully, treating you as if you have the IQ of a garden snail, making up stuff to explain why your horse died. And you are angry. Or maybe the economic loss is too big too ignore and the vet will not accept responsibility. You call the clinic and you get put on hold. The only person who will talk with you at the clinic is the janitor. You write letters. No answer. So what should you do next? Well, one option is to talk with a lawyer. Explain what happened. Find out whether a lawsuit might be possible. Find out the costs and benefits of proceeding. Find out what you will need to find out to know if you have a decent chance of winning in court. But if you wait too long, then you waited too long and you should forget about Old Paint.
A veterinarian is a professional. To sue a professional for malpractice in Florida, you have to do so within two years from the from the time the malpractice is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence. As a general rule you must be the one who had the relationship with the veterinarian, you must be the one who experienced the loss. Do not become committed to starting a law suit until you know what you will be subjecting yourself to. Can you afford to spend money? How much? Are you prepared for the distractions that go with being caught up in litigation proceedings, spending time on a legal battle instead of playing golf or taking your kid fishing, thinking about what is happening, worrying about what comes next, going to a courtroom in front of strangers and being interrogated by someone who is not your friend?
Maybe you decide you cannot deal with a lawsuit, but you remain convinced that your veterinarian did you wrong. You want someone else to know. Contact the State Board of Veterinary Medicine. The Board won’t help you recover money, but it will investigate and discipline vets who do not meet the professional standard of care. You can find the Board’s website at http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/vetm/index.html.
Or maybe you should forget horses, all horses. Try parakeets, cheap parakeets. You decide.
Cheers,
Gary D. Malfeld
Office Phone Number: 305-477-5688
Cell Phone Number: 786-436-4520
Fax Phone Number: 305-675-5950
© 2012
A medical doctor on the faculty of a well known university once told me that more people die from medical malpractice every year than from automobile accidents in the United States. I do not know how he knows. But I trust his honesty and his knowledge. I suspect it would be far more difficult to reach conclusions about the percentage of fatalities among non-human animals as a consequence of veterinary malpractice.
If a clergyman, or a war hero, or a housewife who raises her kids with great care and devotion causes an automobile accident that results in injury or death to someone else, he or she may be held accountable. This happens even though the person’s virtues greatly exceed his or her failings. Mistakes have consequences, even when those mistakes are not intentioned. You may lament the unfairness of it, but that is the reality. It is part of the rules of the game. And the rules of the game are the laws our society has adopted from centuries of Anglo Saxon law, Common Law, which predates the American Revolution. That law is as much a part of our lives as the air we breathe.
So you took your horse to the veterinary hospital for a medical procedure and the horse died under the care and supervision of veterinary medical staff. There are two initial questions to consider: 1) did the horse die because of medical malpractice, and 2) do you care one way or another?
Maybe the horse would have died no matter what the medical staff did or did not do. So even if there was malpractice, it makes no difference for the outcome. But suppose it did make a difference. For it to be malpractice, the veterinarian must have performed in such a way that his or her performance was not in accordance with the usual judgment, skill and care ordinarily required in the practice of veterinary medicine, and because of that failure the horse died. Maybe the failure was too obvious to you for you to need expert advice to decide the vet failed. You know the only explanation as to why your horse died is because the vet killed it. But if you go to a court to prove your point, you will need an expert witness to confirm your own conclusion. You will need the opinion of another veterinarian. And he or she will testify as to whether your vet performed in accordance with the usual judgment, skill and care ordinarily required in the practice of veterinary medicine. And he or she will require payment from you.
But do you care the horse died? You like the vet. You did not like the horse anyway. Maybe it was a gift from your in-laws and you always hated it. Or maybe the horse was worth $200.00 on the open market and suing to get $200.00 is not worth the aggravation. So you walk away, and pet your cat.
Well, you want to go ahead. The vet is treating you disdainfully, treating you as if you have the IQ of a garden snail, making up stuff to explain why your horse died. And you are angry. Or maybe the economic loss is too big too ignore and the vet will not accept responsibility. You call the clinic and you get put on hold. The only person who will talk with you at the clinic is the janitor. You write letters. No answer. So what should you do next? Well, one option is to talk with a lawyer. Explain what happened. Find out whether a lawsuit might be possible. Find out the costs and benefits of proceeding. Find out what you will need to find out to know if you have a decent chance of winning in court. But if you wait too long, then you waited too long and you should forget about Old Paint.
A veterinarian is a professional. To sue a professional for malpractice in Florida, you have to do so within two years from the from the time the malpractice is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence. As a general rule you must be the one who had the relationship with the veterinarian, you must be the one who experienced the loss. Do not become committed to starting a law suit until you know what you will be subjecting yourself to. Can you afford to spend money? How much? Are you prepared for the distractions that go with being caught up in litigation proceedings, spending time on a legal battle instead of playing golf or taking your kid fishing, thinking about what is happening, worrying about what comes next, going to a courtroom in front of strangers and being interrogated by someone who is not your friend?
Maybe you decide you cannot deal with a lawsuit, but you remain convinced that your veterinarian did you wrong. You want someone else to know. Contact the State Board of Veterinary Medicine. The Board won’t help you recover money, but it will investigate and discipline vets who do not meet the professional standard of care. You can find the Board’s website at http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/vetm/index.html.
Or maybe you should forget horses, all horses. Try parakeets, cheap parakeets. You decide.
Cheers,
Gary D. Malfeld
Office Phone Number: 305-477-5688
Cell Phone Number: 786-436-4520
Fax Phone Number: 305-675-5950
© 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)