2026 Minnesota Statutes

156.12 PRACTICE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.

Subdivision 1.Practice.

(a) The practice of veterinary medicine includes:

(1) the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, correction, relief, or prevention of animal disease, pain, deformity, defect, injury, or other physical, behavioral, dental, or mental conditions, including but not limited to performing medical, dental, or surgical procedures;

(2) using any procedure for reproductive management, including but not limited to the diagnosis or treatment of pregnancy, fertility, sterility, infertility, or obstetrical procedures;

(3) prescribing, dispensing, or administering a drug, a medicine, a biologic, an appliance, an apparatus, an application, an anesthetic, or a treatment; and

(4) determining the health, fitness, or soundness of an animal.

(b) The practice of veterinary medicine includes the use of complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies. Complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies include but are not limited to veterinary acupuncture, acutherapy, and acupressure; veterinary homeopathy; veterinary manual or manipulative therapy, including therapies based on techniques practiced in osteopathy, chiropractic medicine, or physical rehabilitation and therapy; veterinary nutraceutical therapy; and veterinary phytotherapy.

(c) A veterinarian-client-patient relationship between a licensed veterinarian and a patient must be established before the licensed veterinarian engages in the practice of veterinary medicine, except that a licensed veterinarian may provide emergency stabilization or teletriage to a patient without having established a veterinarian-client-patient relationship with the patient.

Subd. 2.Authorized activities.

No provision of this chapter may be construed to prohibit:

(1) a person from providing immediate care to a patient in the event of an emergency situation or accident;

(2) while under the direct supervision or remote supervision of a licensed veterinarian, a licensed veterinary technician or a veterinary assistant from providing emergency stabilization to a patient with the consent of the client if immediate access to a licensed veterinarian is delayed;

(3) a licensed veterinarian or, while under the direct or remote supervision of a licensed veterinarian, a veterinary technician or a veterinary assistant from providing emergency teletriage, including poison control services, to an animal patient if immediate action is necessary;

(4) any person from providing advice or performing actions that the board has designated by rule as accepted livestock management practices;

(5) a person who is a regular student in an accredited or approved college of veterinary medicine from performing duties or actions assigned by instructors or preceptors or working under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian;

(6) any person from providing a consultation to a licensed veterinarian in the state on the care and management of a patient only if:

(i) the service provided by the person is limited to a consultation; and

(ii) the licensed veterinarian receiving the consultation maintains the veterinarian-client-patient relationship;

(7) any veterinarian employed by an accredited or approved college of veterinary medicine from providing assistance requested by a licensed veterinarian with consent from the client and acting under the direct supervision or remote supervision of the licensed veterinarian who requested assistance. The licensed veterinarian requesting assistance must maintain responsibility for a veterinarian-client-patient relationship with the patient;

(8) the owner of an animal and the owner's regular employee from caring for, treating, and administering drugs prescribed by a licensed veterinarian to the animal belonging to the owner, except where the ownership of the animal was transferred for purposes of circumventing this chapter. When caring for, treating, or administering drugs to an animal, the animal's owner and the owner's regular employee must comply with all laws, rules, and regulations related to the use of medicines and biologics;

(9) veterinarians who are in compliance with section 156.0721 and who are employed by the University of Minnesota from performing their duties with the College of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Agricultural Experiment Station, Agricultural Extension Service, Medical School, School of Public Health, School of Nursing, or other unit within the university; or a person from lecturing or giving instructions or demonstrations at the university or in connection with a continuing education course or seminar to veterinarians;

(10) any person from selling or applying any pesticide, insecticide or herbicide;

(11) any person from engaging in scientific research that reasonably requires experimentation involving animals and is conducted in a facility that complies with local and federal law, rules, and regulations;

(12) any employee of a licensed veterinarian from performing duties other than diagnosis, prescription or surgical correction under the direction and supervision of the veterinarian or a licensed veterinary technician, who is responsible for the performance of the employee;

(13) a graduate of a foreign college of veterinary medicine from working under the direct personal instruction, control, or supervision of a veterinarian faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota in order to complete the requirements necessary to obtain an ECFVG or a PAVE certificate;

(14) a licensed chiropractor registered under section 148.032, subdivision 1, from practicing animal chiropractic;

(15) a person certified by the director of the Office of Emergency Medical Services under chapter 144E from providing emergency medical care to a police dog wounded in the line of duty;

(16) any employee of the federal, state, or local government from performing the employee's official duties;

(17) any licensed individual with a licensed or regulated profession in the state from providing assistance requested by a licensed veterinarian from acting with the client's consent and acting under the direct or remote supervision of the licensed veterinarian. The licensed veterinarian providing direct or remote supervision must maintain responsibility for the veterinarian-client-patient relationship;

(18) any pharmacist, merchant, or manufacturer at the pharmacist's, merchant's, or manufacturer's regular place of business from selling over-the-counter medicine, feed, appliances, or other products used in the prevention or treatment of animal diseases;

(19) any person from providing training for animals, except that the person must not diagnose, prescribe, or dispense any therapeutic drugs without a license required by the board;

(20) a veterinarian who is licensed in another state or a veterinary technician or veterinary technologist who has credentials in another state from practicing veterinary medicine or veterinary technology in Minnesota during an emergency or a natural disaster, within the scope and location of assigned veterinary medical or veterinary technological duties of the response efforts without passing written examinations or other qualifications, if:

(i) an official declaration of the disaster or emergency has been made by the governor or the delegated state official; and

(ii) the veterinarian, veterinary technician, or veterinary technologist has received an official invitation for a specified time by the authority with jurisdiction over coordinating animal or agricultural issues during disasters or emergencies in the state according to section 192.89; or

(21) any person from lawfully providing care and rehabilitation to wildlife species according to Minnesota Rules, part 6244.0400.

Subd. 3.Requirement to be engaged in practice.

Any person who sells or offers to apply, any prescription drug, biologic preparation, including sera, vaccines, bacterins, tuberculin, mallein, johnin, or any other agent for the treatment, vaccination, or testing of any animal belonging to another, shall be engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine.

Subd. 4.Titles.

It is unlawful for a person who has not received a professional degree from an accredited or approved college of veterinary medicine, ECFVG or PAVE certification, or an institutional license under section 156.0721 to use any of the following titles or designations: Veterinary, veterinarian, animal doctor, animal surgeon, animal dentist, animal chiropractor, animal acupuncturist, or any other title, designation, word, letter, abbreviation, sign, card, or device tending to indicate that the person is qualified to practice veterinary medicine.

Subd. 5.

MS 1994 [Repealed, 1996 c 415 s 33]

Subd. 6.

MS 2022 [Repealed, 2024 c 127 art 20 s 12]

History:

(5851-12) 1937 c 119 s 12; 1965 c 204 s 11; 1976 c 285 s 11; 1984 c 427 s 1; 1985 c 228 s 4; 1986 c 444; 1996 c 415 s 18-20; 1999 c 231 s 162,163; 2004 c 254 s 25,26; 2008 c 297 art 1 s 38-40; 2021 c 28 s 23; 2024 c 122 art 1 s 24; 2024 c 127 art 20 s 10,11; art 63 s 22; 2026 c 53 s 51,52; 2026 c 127 art 4 s 24