The USA's new canine travel rules

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The new US-CAN travel restrictions

There is nothing more challenging than understanding new laws and regulations, especially when those regulations involve the flow of traffic across the world’s largest undefended border. The CDC has issued new travel restrictions on dogs entering the United States, even from their maple syrup loving, hockey playing, friendly neighbor (or neighbour!) to the North. Sure, it’s not the biggest news out of the United States today (see: Biden, Joe) but it’s making headlines in our world.

The requirements now include documentation and certification of rabies vaccination within Canada or the USA within the last 6-12 months. This move is meant to deter vaccination abroad and reduce the risk of bringing infectious disease, including rabies, from dogs adopted from overseas.

While reasonable in its intended effect, the actual policy is causing challenges especially, within the Canadian veterinary community where veterinarians are struggling to support their clients with planned travel after the new rules come into effect August 1st.

This past week the CVMA hosted a webinar to discuss the new rules which quickly reached a zoom meeting capacity of 500 attendees, leaving frustrated veterinarians venting online. The lack of clarity around the rules stems in part from a “fluid” situation according to the CVMA due to ongoing discussions between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the CDC.

While clarity will ultimately arise, there are likely to be a number of unhappy travelers in the coming weeks and months as the details get sorted out. Ross Kelly of VIN News has more reporting on the topic.

Dr. Scott Weese of the Ontario Veterinary College has additional frequently asked questions on his blog which clarify the current iteration of the rules coming into effect.

While frustrating, there is only one thing we can do…. be water, my friends. After all, the situation is fluid so we must go with the flow.

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Are non-compete clauses back?

Recently the FTC struck down non-compete clauses paving the wave for veterinarians everywhere to celebrate. However, some folks were not too happy including the US Chamber of Commerce and the tax firm Ryan who joined with other business entities to file a law suit against the FTC ruling.

As reported by Reuters, in early July, a Texas-based judge gave a partial win to these big businesses by blocking the ruling as it applies to those groups pending the result of their legal action. The judge refused to completely block the ruling nationwide, limiting the scope of the action.

So for now, veterinary practices are still affected by the FTC ruling and non-compete clauses are not enforceable. But with an election coming and lawsuits in progress, this story is far from over.

We’ll keep you updated.

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Introduction to CT for ET Practice

We may not have been delivering Weekend Rounds to your inbox, but the team was still hard at work! We’re excited to share Obi Veterinary Education’s newest course: Introduction to CT for ER Practice.

Taught by Obi co-founder Dr Ryan Appleby, this 4-hour course covers the basic indications and principles of use and interpretation. It is designed to give an overview to ER veterinarians with access to a CT in their practice or as an introduction to CT for any interested veterinarians.

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Veterinary Podcast Recommendations

You likely know that we’re big fans of podcasts. We don’t have one (yet), but we’re always willing to dish out recommendations when we find good ones. Especially when they’re about veterinary medicine…

First, one of the our absolute favorite podcasts, The Daily, did a feature called Loving Their Pets to Debt, where healthcare reporter Katie Thomas looks at why the costs of veterinary care has gone up.

We thought Katie was fair in her reporting as she covered inflation, the increase in expensive medical procedures available to pets, the shifting role of pets in the family, pet insurance, and the influence of private equity investments. The thing that bugs us is that no one is talking about loving their cars, kids, houses, or vacations to death or debt. The framing still puts veterinary medicine as a “lesser than” in the eyes of many. Have a listen online, on Spotify, or wherever you get your pods and let us know what you thought.

The second is a little toot of our own horn as Obi co-founder Ryan Appleby had the opportunity to speak with the folks at Veterinary Innovation Podcast about our company and why we are passionate about the future of veterinary education. Take a listen:

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Quick Hits

Here are some of the other stories that caught our eye and we're following this week from around the veterinary world and animal kingdom: