TDK conference 2024

The popularity of complementary medicine in the veterinary feild has risen in the last decade, similar as in human medicine. Complementary and alternative veterinary medicine (CAVM) encompasses a wide range of activities, not all of which are based on scientific knowledge and evidence.

In our thesis, we have mapped the regulation of the para-professional veterinary activities in Europe and the United States of America, elaborating on the laws of countries and states with more stringent systems. By gathering and analysing different aspects of the topic, our aim was to provide an overview of the differences and similarities between the countries studied, thus facilitating the establishment of a possible regulatory system in Hungary.

There is no uniform regulation of the use of CAVM methods among European countries. In most countries general animal welfare and ethical rules, as well as laws defining veterinary practice, restrict the work of non-veterinary therapists. In our data collection, EU legislation on veterinary homeopathy and CAVM methods were recorded and analysed. An email was sent out to the Director General of Veterinary Medicine of nineteen European countries asking about the legal regulations on CAVM in their respective countries. We received a reply from nine countries. Six countries replied that they have legislations in place in the area of complementary and alternative veterinary medicine, while three replied that they do not. From these six respondents, we selected four countries (England, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany) with detailed descriptions.

In the United States of America, CAVM activities are covered in the legislation of twenty-three out of fifty states. In nine of these states - Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin - CAVM activities may be performed by persons other than veterinarians.

Our thesis highlights the need to exclude the term "alternative" from the way CAVM activities are conducted, as it misleadingly suggests that these methods can be used as an alternative to contemporary medicine. The scientific evidence-based methods embraced by CAVM, such as homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy and phytotherapy, should be incorporated into the veterinary profession through a broad knowledge of veterinary medicine. It is in all our interests to keep CAVM therapists’ training under control, to form consensual grouping of the already established methods, to accredit emerging methods, and to regulate the use of all methods involved.