Airline industry stakeholders finally have something to celebrate in 2020. For emotional support pigs, miniature horses, snakes, and turkeys, it’s the end of an era of commercial air travel. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a set of final rule revisions to the Air Carrier Access Act it proposed earlier this year – rules that major airline industry stakeholders like Delta Airlines have long called for.
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced its final revision of rules under the Air Carrier Access Act which had required air carriers to treat emotional support animals as service dogs. The revisions give airlines significantly more discretion:
Denver residents voted to repeal the “restricted breed ban” on November 3, 2020. They voted, instead, for a new permit process, to be administered by Denver Animal Protection.
Denver residents will now need to obtain a Breed-Restricted Permit.
The F.D.A.’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has just issued its first official statement on diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (or DCM) in […]
There’s another story, which may be more significant — which is the fact that the important new data was not announced or reported on F.D.A.’s website until after TCR started making inquiries about the conference materials discovered by Holly. Among those materials were “Opening Remarks” delivered by F.D.A. CVM chief, Dr. Steven Solomon, in which he seems to express concern for how his agency’s research might affect the “bottom line” of some pet food companies.
*More reporting coming soon* The Canine Review has learned that the FDA has released its first major update on diet-associated DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy, a progressive heart disease) in dogs and cats since its June 2019 bombshell announcement in which the regulator took the unprecedented step of singling out the 16 brands of dog food most frequently linked to DCM cases. The FDA’s 2020 update was first reported by third year veterinary student Caitlin Holly, who broke the story Sunday evening on her blog, Doc Of All Trades.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine announced today that Alabama-based Sunshine Mills, Inc. — whose products are sold nationwide by big box retailers such as Walmart, Target, Petco; online retailers such as Chewy.com and Amazon — has expanded its September dog food recalls due to excessive levels of alfatoxin (toxic mold). Ingestion of alfatoxin-contaminated foods at excessive quantities by dogs can cause severe liver damage.
A class action suit against sellers of prescription pet food (including Mars, Hill’s, Purina, two veterinary hospital networks, and retailer Petsmart) that was filed by six California dog and cat owners in 2016 was revived by a federal court last week, overturning a district court ruling. The claims are based on California consumer protection laws.
Asked about the enforcement process and how the Board implements its orders, Cave explained, “Because California is a huge state, the [VMB] can’t be everywhere at all times.” Cave added that if a person is aware of a veterinarian who is operating on a revoked license, that person should file a complaint as a way of alerting the [Vet Board] to the possible violation. “And, then, what the Board has at their disposal is either to send out an inspector or, at the Department of Consumer Affairs, we have our own law enforcement unit. They’re called the Division of Investigation (DOI). They’re actually peace officers, but they’re under DCA.” Cave says these officers are able to set up undercover sting operations depending on the severity. “If the board is tipped off, then they definitely move on those quickly.”
In America’s heartland, a new and unlikely participant has joined the debates that have defined so much of the COVID-19 pandemic: Wisconsin veterinarian and practice owner Kristie Ponce of Wisconsin Rapids, where the local economy is being ravaged by the pandemic. Dr. Ponce and her practice started attracting media attention earlier in July when, according to Ponce, she and her staff were ordered by local health department authorities to quarantine at home after one employee tested positive for COVID-19.