PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Spring 2021 - 12

House of
Delegates Meeting
By Dr. Christina Dougherty,
Delegate
Dr. Kate Boatright,
Alternate Delegate

The 2021 Winter Session of the AVMA House of Delegates (HOD)
was held virtually in conjunction with the Veterinary Leadership
Conference on January 8-9, 2021. In addition to introductions of
the two president-elect candidates, Dr. Lori Teller and Dr. Grace
Bransford, the HOD discussed two topics during the Veterinary
Information Forum and voted on numerous resolutions.

Veterinary Information Forum (VIF)
During this year's VIF, the topics for discussion were Veterinary
Medicine in the Aftermath of COVID and Timing of Canine Spay
and Neuter. Commentary was received from hundreds of AVMA
Members nationally and the members of the HOD engaged
in discussion on both topics. Ultimately, no action was taken.
Thank you to the many dedicated Pennsylvania AVMA members
who submitted their comments on the matters discussed. We
encourage your continued participation in future VIFs.

Action on Resolutions
A total of seven (7) resolutions were proposed for discussion,
and one resolution's discussion was postponed.* To view
the full text of all seven resolutions, visit the AVMA Blog,
https://bit.ly/3l5TU0o. The first two resolutions were referred
to other groups for continued discussion and evaluation.
Resolution #1: Rules for election campaigns was referred to the
House Advisory Committee for further clarification.
Resolution #2: Expansion of dues reduction for newer
graduates was referred to the Board of Directors for study.
This resolution proposed cutting dues for recent graduate
veterinarians beyond the current level in an attempt to attract
these younger veterinarians to organizational membership.
If this dues reduction were to be implemented, a significant
budget cut would be required that would directly affect the
programming the AVMA can offer. Both students and early
career veterinarians expressed appreciation for the spirit of
the resolution, but stated they would prefer to see the AVMA
12 | Keystone Veterinarian

continue to offer programming targeted at this demographic
to increase membership value rather than reduce costs of
membership.
The remaining five resolutions were approved by the HOD:
* Resolution #3: AVMA policy on advocating for necessary
veterinary medical therapy
* Resolution #4: AVMA revised policy on exempt biologics
* Resolution #5: AVMA revised policy on guidelines for use of
autogenous biologics
* Resolution #6: AVMA revised policy on veterinary dentistry
* Resolution #7: AVMA revised Model Veterinary Practice Act

*Postponement of Resolution #8
One additional resolution had been submitted by AVMA
Members through a petition prior to the HOD meeting, but
it had been received after the deadline for submission. This
resolution requested an update to the AVMA's Guidelines for the
Depopulation of Animals: specifically, to reclassify Ventilation
Shutdown (VSD) and Ventilation Shutdown Plus (VSD+) as not
recommended by the AVMA.
Because of the late arrival, the House needed to waive notice
to allow the resolution to be considered. After extensive
discussion, the House declined to waive notice, citing concerns
about insufficient time to evaluate relevant information. As
such, the resolution will automatically be carried over for
consideration during the House of Delegates' annual meeting
this summer.
As this resolution will be addressed in July, we thought it would
be helpful to share information about the development and
review of the AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals.
https://www.bit.ly/3l5TU0o
PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Spring 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Spring 2021
