The Ugly Side

The Ugly Side

Sometimes in politics, as in life, we pick our battles. And, other times, our battles pick us. I know of no one on the planet any more tired of the equine dentistry issue than yours truly. So, I thought after the letter that came out in the Lawton Constitution from Dr. Charles Freeman that I probably needed to at least somewhat defend my position. This is by no means the only shot that anybody has tried to take at us. There have been many across the state. So, let me start with the fact that I am in no way, shape or form against our veterinarians. In fact, I have many veterinarians who are good friends and very competent healers. This issue started over two years ago with an amendment to a bill that really had nothing to do with horses. A member of the Oklahoma House, who is also a veterinarian, amended a bill that actually addressed people who make dentures. It made it a felony for anyone to violate any part of the vet practice act. None of the ag groups who watch legislation that would affect agriculture even caught that little amendment that started this snowball. Keep in mind, a felony is a very serious charge. It is a big hammer and that hammer was wielded with a lot of malice.

The first target was a company called REI (Reproductive Enterprises Inc.) out of Stillwater, a 30-year old company that has been one of the leading firms in the state, helping cattle producers with embryo transfer and very high-tech breeding transfers. Their success rate is very high and a great number of pure bred producers relied heavily on their expertise. When the first cease and desist order was issued to REI over a year ago, the cattle industry was shocked and angered by the fact that the vet board decided that after 30 years, it should be illegal for a very successful company to continue to operate. Those of us in agricultural leadership roles in the state began to receive numerous calls. After a tremendous amount of displeasure from the livestock community, myself and some other rural legislators had a meeting with the vet board to express our displeasure in the handling of the reproduction company. The vet board’s response was “we were within the law” but they seemed willing to work with the Legislature, who with by the way is where laws are changed, to find a workable solution to keep this entity in place. After what we thought was a fairly good discussion and somewhat of an understanding, we believed we were on the right track and that the cease and desist orders would be put on a hold until we could find a solution. Boy, were we wrong.

Fast forward a few months and the next incident was the sting and ultimate arrest and felony charge of four-time NFR Saddle Bronc Rider and very competent equine dentist, Bobby Griswold. Not a bank robber, not a serial killer, but a father of three who worked very hard to become proficient in maintaining the oral health of horses. So, the next meeting occurred at the capitol with the vet board as once again, those of us in ag leadership roles, called what we considered this rogue agency back again to find out where the breakdown in communication occurred. Once again, we were met with a complete lack of respect for the solutions we were trying to find and a total disregard for the authority of the Legislature. And that, sports fans, is really where the fight started.

We had numerous meetings to try to discuss the issue only to be met with an agency unwilling to admit that they were heavy handed. I think that they fully expected to be able to wield a sledge hammer and reek havoc on anybody who didn’t do exactly what they wanted with no pushback from the ag community. At that point, we had very little choice but to try to fix the situation with a legislative solution. The first order of business was to reduce the size of their hammer. That was achieved by reducing the felony aspect of the Vet Practice Act back to a misdemeanor. To try to keep a father of three little girls from going to prison, which we thought was an absolute travesty when we have so much crime and bad people on the street. Remember, these guys who take care of horses are not outlaws. They are good, hard-working people. In my opinion, the government was overstepping its bounds just because it could, which was totally unacceptable.

We were successful, after a great deal of gnashing of teeth and political fisticuffs, to remove the felony provision, which was step one in correcting what we saw as a tremendous injustice to rural Oklahoma livestock producers and horsemen. It got bad enough that Farm Bureau, Oklahoma’s largest grass roots farm organization, concurred that correcting this injustice would become their number one legislative priority for the 2010 session. Now, according to Dr. Freeman in his inaccurate assessment of this situation, I was able to misguide Farm Bureau. Nothing could be further from the truth. Farm Bureau takes marching orders from their board, the people in the country who make their living in the agriculture, not from the legislature. Farm Bureau sees it clearly as a property rights issue. They feel like their livestock and horses are their property and that they should have the right to choose who maintains that property. If they have a comfort level with a skilled lay man, they should have the right to choose that course of action. Again, that was their decision, not the decision of me or any other legislator. In fact, I have been accused of many things that were grossly untrue. One of the most offensive was that somehow because of our legislative action, reproductive drugs that are commonly used in heat synchronization would somehow be misused. In fact, I think the exact statement that a vet used in a press release last year was that “Representative Armes wants to create rural abortion clinics”. If you have known me very long, you know that I have two daughters, taught agriculture for 13 years and have fought for kids my entire life. So, once again, I turned the other cheek at these horrible accusations and pressed on.

This year, the bills (HB3202, SB1999) are aimed at one thing, to move some very basic agricultural practices like equine dentistry and some reproductive practices from the Vet Practice Act and make them acts of animal husbandry. Does that mean that a vet cannot do these? Absolutely not. But, as long as there is a shortage of large animal practitioners, it allows some people who are highly skilled and trained in these areas to provide some of these services to livestock owners. My contention has always been that if a veterinarian wanted to specialize in these areas and really get good at them, they would have all the business they want. But, in areas of a shortage, there can be other people who can fill theses needs. So, you are going to hear a lot of things that are not true. One of the reasons I ran for office was to defend agriculture and if a group attacks our way of life, I am going to stand up. That is what I am doing. I feel like we are justified and I do not plan on backing down. We are in negotiations with representatives from the Vet Association and feel like we are close to a workable solution. Without drawing a line in the sand, it would never have occurred. I am sure that I will take more punches and that is fine. But, I feel like we are right.
If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call
1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“You have got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.” – song by Aaron Tippin