Exemptions From Article

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Professions and Businesses
  4. Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians
  5. Licensing
  6. Licensing Generally
  7. Exemptions From Article

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This article shall not be construed to prohibit:

    1. An employee of the federal, state, or local government or any contractual partner thereof from performing his or her duties relating to animals owned by, on loan to, or under the control of such employer or the control of stray animals; or
    2. Any employee of a public or private college or university from performing his or her duties relating to animals owned by or on loan to such employer;
    1. A person who is a regular student in a veterinary school or school of veterinary technology performing duties or actions assigned by his or her instructors or working under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian;
    2. A member of the faculty, a resident, an intern, or a graduate student of an accredited college or school of veterinary medicine or school of veterinary technology performing his or her regular clinical or nonclinical functions or a person lecturing or giving instructions or demonstrations at an accredited college or school of veterinary medicine or school of veterinary technology in connection with a continuing education course or seminar;
    3. A graduate of a foreign college or school of veterinary medicine who is in the process of obtaining the ECFVG or PAVE certificate or substantial equivalent performing duties or actions under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian;
  3. Any person, compensated or otherwise, from performing current acceptable livestock and food animal management practices, including, but not limited to, castration of food animals, dehorning without the use of prescription drugs or surgical closure of wounds, hoof trimming or shoeing, docking, ear notching, removing needle teeth, testing for pregnancy, implantation of over-the-counter growth implants, implantation of over-the-counter identification devices, artificial insemination, the use of federally approved over-the-counter products, veterinary approved products, branding, collecting of fluids for genetic identification and classification, semen and embryo collection and storage, and the use of ultrasound for collection of production data and similar nondiagnostic purposes;
  4. Any person assisting with a nonsurgical fetal delivery in a food animal, provided that no fee is charged;
  5. The actions of a veterinarian who is currently licensed in another state, province of Canada, or a United States territory in consulting with a licensed veterinarian but who:
    1. Does not open an office or appoint a place to do business within this state;
    2. Does not print or use letterhead or business cards reflecting in-state addresses;
    3. Does not establish answering services or advertise the existence of a practice address within this state;
    4. Does not practice veterinary medicine as a consultant rendering services directly to the public without the direction of a licensed veterinarian more than two days per calendar year;
    5. Is providing services for an organization conducting a public event lasting less than ten days that utilizes animals in need of veterinary examinations, treatments, or oversight to promote the safety and health of the public, the event, and the animal participants; provided, however, that a veterinarian licensed in another state who practices veterinary medicine on animals belonging to residents of this state by communicating directly with such owners and independent of the attending veterinary licensee is not exempt from this state's licensing requirements; and
    6. Does not offer through electronic means remote services within this state, except for consulting, as otherwise permitted in this chapter;
    1. Any merchant or manufacturer selling, at his or her regular place of business, medicines, feed, appliances, or other products used in the prevention or treatment of animal diseases. This shall not be construed to authorize the sale of medication requiring a prescription from a veterinarian, but shall only include the right to sell those medications which are classified as proprietary and which are commonly known as over-the-counter medicines.
    2. Subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall not be construed to authorize the sale of antimicrobial feed additives without an order from a veterinarian under the guidance of the veterinary feed directive in compliance with 21 C.F.R. 558.6;
    1. The owner of an animal or the owner's bona fide employees caring for and treating the animal belonging to such owner;
    2. The owner's friend or relative caring for or treating the animal belonging to such owner, provided that no fee is charged and the friend or relative does not solicit, advertise, or regularly engage in providing such care or treatment or administer or dispense prescription drugs without a valid prescription; or
    3. The owner of an animal and any of the owner's bona fide employees caring for and treating the animal belonging to such owner, except where the ownership of the animal was transferred for purposes of circumventing the provisions of this chapter. Persons must comply with all laws, rules, and regulations relative to the use of medicines and biologics; provided, however, that such owner and any of such owner's bona fide employees caring for and treating such animal shall not practice veterinary medicine except as otherwise permitted under this Code section;
    1. The owner, operator, or employee of a licensed kennel, animal rescue organization, animal shelter, or stable or of a pet-sitting service providing food, shelter, or supervision of an animal or administering prescription drugs pursuant to prescription of a licensed veterinarian or over-the-counter medicine to an animal;
    2. Any person acting under the direct or indirect supervision of a licensed veterinarian to provide care to animals that are the property of an animal shelter when at least the following three conditions are met:
      1. The person is an employee of an animal shelter or a local government who has control over the governance of the animal shelter;
      2. The person is performing these tasks in compliance with a written protocol developed in consultation with a licensed veterinarian; and
      3. The person has received proper training; provided, however, that such persons shall not diagnose, prescribe, dispense, or perform surgery;
  9. Any person selling or applying any pesticide, insecticide, or herbicide, as permitted by law;
  10. Any person engaging in scientific research involving animals conducted in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations;
  11. Any licensed veterinary technician, veterinary technologist, or other employee of a licensed veterinarian from performing lawful duties under the direction and supervision of such veterinarian who shall be responsible for the performance of the employee;
  12. The owner of an animal, the owner's employee, or a member of a nationally recognized organization that acknowledges persons performing embryo transfer or artificial breeding and that is approved by the board from:
    1. The nonsurgical removal of an embryo from an animal for the purpose of transplanting such embryo into another female animal, cryopreserving such embryo, or implanting such embryo in an animal, provided that the use of prescription medications in such animals is maintained under the direction of a licensed veterinarian with a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship; or
    2. The testing and evaluation of semen;
  13. Any other licensed or registered health care provider utilizing his or her special skills, or any person whose expertise, in the opinion of the veterinarian licensed in this state, would benefit the animal, so long as the treatment of the animal is under the direction of a licensed veterinarian with a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship;
  14. A person performing soft tissue animal massage or other forms of soft tissue animal manipulation;
  15. A person performing aquaculture or raniculture management practices;
  16. A person implanting electronic identification devices in small companion animals;
  17. An employee or contractual partner of a zoological park or aquarium accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association or other substantially equivalent nationally recognized accrediting agency as determined by the board from performing his or her duties that are approved by a licensed veterinarian and relate to animals owned by or on loan to such zoological park or aquarium;
  18. Any person lawfully engaged in the art or profession of farriery for the care of hooves and feet of equines and livestock;
  19. Any veterinarian licensed by a state and serving as a volunteer health practitioner as such term is defined in Code Section 38-3-161 from providing service after a state of emergency has been declared pursuant to Code Section 38-3-51 or other applicable law or laws; or
  20. Any veterinarian licensed by a state from practicing veterinary medicine in a temporary capacity at one of this state's institutions of higher learning. Such veterinarian shall be paid for his or her services solely from state, federal, or institutional funds. Such veterinarian shall practice solely at the institution of higher learning, or in an educational or research program outside the institution associated with the institution, for no more than six months in order to qualify for practice under this Code section. Any violation of state or federal laws, rules, or regulations by such veterinarian shall be reported to the applicable licensing board by the institution of higher learning.

(Code 1933, § 84-1503, enacted by Ga. L. 1965, p. 92, § 1; Ga. L. 1973, p. 260, § 1; Code 1981, §43-50-32; Ga. L. 1993, p. 700, § 1; Code 1981, §43-50-44, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2003, p. 615, § 1-1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 30, § 2/HB 999; Ga. L. 2012, p. 616, § 1/SB 324; Ga. L. 2018, p. 770, § 3/HB 956; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1056, § 43/SB 52.)

The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, rewrote this Code section.

The 2019 amendment, effective May 12, 2019, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "veterinarian-client-patient relationship" for "veterinary-client-animal patient relationship" at the end of paragraph (13).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, opinions under former Code 1933, § 84-1501, as it read prior to revision of the chapter by Ga. L. 1965, p. 92, are included in the annotations for this Code section.

Embryo transfer process constitutes the practice of veterinary medicine under O.C.G.A. § 43-50-3. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-86 (decided prior to 1993 amendment).

It is not unlawful for a county agent to advise farmers about what might be wrong with the farmers' livestock. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 393 (decided under former Code 1933, § 84-1501).

County agent teaching farmers how to treat livestock is not practicing veterinary medicine. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 393 (decided under former Code 1933, § 84-1501).

Castrating, dehorning, and hoof trimming do not constitute practice of veterinary medicine. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 393 (decided under former Code 1933, § 84-1501).

Examination of animal for pregnancy.

- Examination to discover whether or not an animal is pregnant would not be practicing veterinary medicine as defined in former Code 1933, §§ 84-1502 (see now O.C.G.A. § 43-50-3) and 84-1503 (see now O.C.G.A. §§ 43-50-21 and43-50-22) for the reason that pregnancy is not considered a disease; the intention of the law is to prohibit laymen from practicing veterinary medicine as defined. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 393 (decided under former Code 1933, § 84-1501).

Deworming and treatment of foot rot might be considered practicing veterinary medicine. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 393 (decided under former Code 1933, § 84-1501).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Single or isolated transactions as falling within provisions of commercial or occupational licensing requirements, 93 A.L.R.2d 90.

Recovery back of money paid to unlicensed person required by law to have occupational or business license or permit to make contract, 74 A.L.R.3d 637.


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