KentuckySB 692025 Regular SessionSenate

AN ACT relating to allied animal health professional licenses.

Sponsored By: Robin L. Webb (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Administrative Regulations and ProceedingsLicensingOccupations and ProfessionsVeterinariansAnimals, Livestock, and PoultryBoards and CommissionsHorses and Horse Racing

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

9 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 8 mixed.

Animal facilities face manager and closure rules

Facility applications must name a responsible party and a manager with an active Kentucky license in good standing. Veterinary facilities need a veterinarian manager; allied animal health facilities need a licensed allied animal health professional manager. Both parties are accountable for operations and violations, and must report changes in their association with the facility. The board may require criminal background checks for these roles. It may discipline or close facilities for unpaid fees, blocked inspections, missing managers, interference with professional judgment, or rule violations.

Animal care facilities must register

Existing fixed and mobile veterinary and allied animal health facilities had to register by June 30, 2025. Initial registration costs at least $200; filings by that date cost $100, and renewal fees cannot exceed program costs. After that date, new facilities cannot open until the board accepts their application and fee and sends written notice. The board may inspect new facilities within their first 120 days; credentials must stay active and renew on schedule. A mobile unit identified as an affiliate of a registered fixed facility avoids separate registration, but may trigger extra fees.

Horse dental providers face practice limits

Licensed equine dental providers may perform only eight procedures under indirect veterinary supervision. These are removing sharp enamel points, small overgrowths, and above-gum tartar; profiling first cheek teeth; reducing incisors; and three extraction types. Extractions cover loose baby teeth, erupted nondisplaced wolf teeth, and loose or diseased teeth or fragments with minimal attachments, by hand without an elevator. Other veterinary technicians need veterinary employment and direct supervision; providers must leave the dental chart with the person authorizing care. The chart must be available to the client’s veterinarian within three business days; only that veterinarian, with a valid care relationship, may prescribe or dispense related drugs. The board must also set drug acquisition, distribution, and administration controls for allied animal health services.

New licenses for animal care providers

Kentucky licenses allied animal health professionals, with separate licenses for animal chiropractic and equine dentistry. Applicants must meet application, fee, character, fingerprint-check, approved education or foreign-equivalency, and any required exam standards. Animal chiropractors also need a Kentucky chiropractic license; protected equine dental titles require the applicable credentials. Providers cannot use protected veterinary titles without a Kentucky veterinary license, and must meet veterinarians’ standard of care. Valid allied animal health permits automatically became licenses on the law’s effective date, without a new application.

Animal owners get updated record rights

Animal patient records must stay readily available for five years after the last encounter. Clients own their records and must receive them within seven calendar days of a proper request, sooner when the animal’s condition requires. Reasonable copying and staff-time fees are allowed, but records for board investigations are free. Records remain confidential, with sharing allowed for authorized allied providers, involved care teams, specified legal or public-health purposes, and rabies checks by authorities. Third-party storage no longer requires signed client consent, but providers remain responsible for supplying requested records. Entries must identify their author; falsification is banned, and corrections must preserve the original and identify the author, date, and reason.

Animal facilities get voluntary compliance checks

Facilities must be offered self-inspection and may request board advice or a voluntary inspection. The board may charge for in-person consultations and inspections. Voluntary checks do not trigger notices to comply or notices of violation for deficiencies. However, significant violations affecting public or animal health, safety, or welfare can still lead to a grievance. Registered facilities that pass a voluntary in-person inspection receive a certificate.

Animal providers face license renewal rules

Allied animal health professionals get a 60-day renewal grace period, with renewal and late fees. After that, licenses expire and practice must stop; reinstatement requires an application and renewal, late, and reinstatement fees. Reinstatement applications within five years of expiration need no exam; after five years, current new-license standards apply. Suspended providers cannot practice until rights are restored; revoked licenses cannot be renewed without formal reinstatement. The board may require continuing education, and program fees cannot exceed operating costs.

Experienced animal providers get licensing pathway

The board can create a temporary path that substitutes work experience for required education. Applicants need 12 months of Kentucky residency immediately before applying and recommendations from two Kentucky-licensed veterinarians. They must document at least 10 years of animal chiropractic work or five years of equine dentistry work. Required records include employment or self-employment proof, practice duration, average hours, and good-standing letters from other licensing jurisdictions. The application window lasts no more than 18 months after the applicable rule takes effect.

Animal control agencies gain drug access

The board may certify qualified animal control agencies to apply for federal controlled-drug registration after an application and fee. Approved drugs cover euthanasia or related sedation of agency-owned animals, plus specified emergency care for injured, sick, or abandoned animals. Agencies must pass initial and periodic inspections and follow drug-security, logging, tracking, and disposal rules. Separate federal registrations require separate secure storage and logs. Trained, certified euthanasia specialists must work for certified agencies; euthanasia generally stays on agency premises except in emergencies, not at private homes or for outside paid work.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Robin L. Webb
Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

Jason Howell
Republican • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 124 • No: 0

House vote • 3/14/2025

3rd reading, passed

Yes: 88 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/18/2025