H. B. 2656
(By Delegates Overington, Anderson, Fragale, Proudfoot,
Border and Davis)
[Introduced March 20, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.]
A BILL to amend chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article ten-a, relating
to creation of the position of certified animal euthanasia
technician; the certified animal euthanasia technician
program, requiring passage of written and practical
examinations; areas in which applicants are tested;
background checks; board to approve registration; annual
renewal required; limitations of authority; responsibility;
loss of certification; disciplinary authority; and board to
propose rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article ten-a, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 10A. ANIMAL EUTHANASIA TECHNICIANS.
§30-10A-1. Creating the position of certified animal euthanasia technician.
There is hereby created the position of certified animal
euthanasia technician. Certified animal euthanasia technicians
will perform animal euthanasia under the supervision of humane
officers as provided for under article thirty, chapter seven of
this code. Certified animal euthanasia technicians will be
tested prior to certification and educated on proper restraint,
stress management, controlled substance recordkeeping
requirements, as well as state and federal laws pertaining to
liability relative to handling and administration of any
euthanasia solution. Upon education and passage of tests to
ascertain ability and qualifications for this title, certified
animal euthanasia technicians will then be authorized to obtain
euthanasia under their own drug enforcement administration
narcotics number. They will have authority to act as a
euthanasia technician only under the instruction and legal
authorization of a humane society or animal control facility for
which they are employed. Certified animal euthanasia technicians
shall in no way represent to any person that their title grants them authority to treat or act in the care of animals other than
in the field of euthanasia under authorized instruction and
employment by a verified animal control facility or humane
society and under the supervision of a humane officer. Certified
animal euthanasia technicians shall be tested and annually renew
their certification, under proof of employment with a legitimate
animal control facility or humane society through the West
Virginia board of veterinary medicine. Certified animal
euthanasia technicians may not continue their technician status
upon leaving, irrespective of cause, their employment with a
humane society or animal control facility which is on record with
the board of veterinary medicine and the drug enforcement
administration of the United States department of justice, and
they must, within twenty-four hours of discontinuation of such
employment, irrespective of cause, notify both the West Virginia
board of veterinary medicine, in whatever manner prescribed by
the board and the drug enforcement administration of the
cessation of their employment, as well as arrange for the
collection or removal from their control of any euthanasia
solutions acquired or purchased under their drug enforcement
administration number which are still in existence. Certified
animal euthanasia technicians shall at all times maintain proper
records of these controlled substances, and shall willingly
submit to an audit by either the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine, the drug enforcement administration or any
other legally authorized agency of government of their inventory
and records.
§30-10A-2. Certified animal euthanasia technicians program.
(a) The certified animal euthanasia technicians program
shall be sponsored by the West Virginia board of veterinary
medicine. This course shall be designed to teach candidates
recordkeeping, legal, safety and practical information needed to
become a certified animal euthanasia technician. The application
for certified animal euthanasia technician shall be completed and
submitted to the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine at
least thirty days prior to the scheduled test date. Such
application shall be accompanied by the appropriate application
and examination fee specified by the West Virginia board of
veterinary medicine.
(b) The passage of a written examination shall be required
of every applicant applying to be a certified animal euthanasia
technician. The examination shall be approved of and
administered by the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine.
The candidate must pass the written portion of this exam with a
minimum correct score of seventy percent. Additionally, a
practical skills exam shall be administered. The exam shall be
conducted to test an applicant's ability to properly restrain an
animal, measure a correct dosage of euthanasia solution, locate an injection site and perform an injection. An applicant must
exhibit knowledge of how to perform euthanasia correctly and
humanely. A passing grade in the practical exam does not depend
entirely upon an applicant's ability to hit a vein during the
practical exam, but also on the correctness and humanity of the
administration. Applicants shall also be tested in the following
areas:
(1) Animal restraint;
(2) DEA regulations;
(3) Recordkeeping and inventory;
(4) Certification process;
(5) Legal concern; and
(6) Sodium pentobarbital usage.
(c) Applicants shall sign a form authorizing the West
Virginia board of veterinary medicine to make inquiries through
the United States department of justice, drug enforcement
administration, or any other legal jurisdiction, for the
purposes for determining candidates eligibility to obtain a
federal narcotics acquisition number.
(d) The West Virginia board of veterinary medicine in all
cases of registration or reregistration by any person who states
he or she is a certified animal euthanasia technician, with the
intent of acquiring a drug enforcement administration number
shall request to be informed by the drug enforcement administration of the application, and the West Virginia board of
veterinary medicine in all cases, is required to approve
authorization for a drug enforcement administration number, prior
to authorizing any person to act as a certified animal euthanasia
technician.
(e) All persons tested and approved for registration as
certified animal euthanasia technicians shall renew such
certification annually. Certification renewal notices shall be
mailed by the West Virginia board of veterinary medicine to all
certified animal euthanasia technicians at their last known
business address on or about the first day of December of each
year, and shall be completed and returned to the board no later
than the thirty-first day of December, with the appropriate fee.
All renewals for certified animal euthanasia technician must be
signed by the employer, as well as the certified animal
euthanasia technician, and must list the physical location of the
primary facility where the employee works and maintains the
controlled euthanasia solution. Such renewals shall be for the
calendar year next beginning the first day of January, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight. Failure to timely renew such
certification shall be cause for revocation of certified animal
euthanasia technician status, and the drug enforcement
administration shall be notified that the individual is no longer
authorized to handle, acquire or administer euthanasia substances. The annual renewal fee shall be twenty-five dollars
if received by the thirty-first of December for the next calendar
year, and thirty-five dollars if received after the thirty-first
of December.
(f) Certified animal euthanasia technicians may acquire
through testing, maintain and renew such certification, only when
employed by a properly authorized humane society or animal
control facility in this state.
In the event a certified animal euthanasia technician leaves
his or her employment, he or she shall notify the West Virginia
board of veterinary medicine, as well as the drug enforcement
administration. The certified animal euthanasia technician
shall return the drug enforcement administration certificate and
any unused drug enforcement administration order form 222's to
the drug enforcement administration. Any controlled substance
still appropriated in the name of the certified animal euthanasia
technician shall be immediately transferred by way of a drug
enforcement administration 222 transfer form to another certified
animal euthanasia technician or veterinarian with a drug
enforcement administration number, or returned to the drug
enforcement administration according to their requirements for
return or other disposition.
In the event a certified animal euthanasia technician
transfers his or her employment from one employment facility to another, he or she shall notify the board of veterinary medicine
and the drug enforcement administration, and apply for a new drug
enforcement administration number for himself or herself for the
new location.
Under no circumstances may a person who was a certified
animal euthanasia technician be authorized to use such title or
offer his or her services in such capacity without renewing his
or her registration and certification to a particular humane
society or animal control facility, as authorized through the
West Virginia board of veterinary medicine and the United States
department of justice, drug enforcement administration.
§30-10A-3. Limitations of authority responsibility; loss of
certification; authority over certified animal euthanasia technicians; disciplinary authority; suspension of certified animal euthanasia
technicians authority.
(a) Certified animal euthanasia technicians are authorized
to euthanize animals assigned to the care of a legally operated
humane society or animal control facility, within this state.
Certified animal euthanasia technicians may not offer or in any
way indicate their ability to practice their profession outside
the direct authority of the humane society or animal control
facility which employs them. Certified animal euthanasia technicians are not qualified, nor may they indicate that they
are qualified, to act in any capacity relative to animals beyond
their specified and regulated authority to euthanatize, at the
instruction of their employer, humane society or animal control
facility, and under the supervision of a humane officer.
(b) It shall be the responsibility of the certified animal
euthanasia technicians to obtain for themselves, or through their
respective employers, sufficient liability insurance coverage.
Any person certified as an animal euthanasia technician must
abide by and protect the requirements of his or her position as
mandated by the regulatory authorities of the West Virginia board
of veterinary medicine and the United States drug enforcement
administration.
(c) Any certified animal euthanasia technicians
certification shall immediately be revoked by the West Virginia
board of veterinary medicine in the event of, but not limited to,
any of the following:
(1) Any adjudication of a felony;
(2) Revocation or suspension of a drug enforcement
administration controlled substance permit;
(3) Leaving the employ of a animal control facility,
irrespective of the cause. However, the transfer to another
authorized animal care or animal control facility approved by the
board of veterinary medicine and filed properly with drug enforcement administration shall be excepted from this; or
(4) Cruelty to animals.
(d) While all certified animal euthanasia technicians are
employed by humane societies or animal control facilities, they
shall acknowledge and accept that they may not, by law, act in
any official capacity as a certified animal euthanasia technician
contrary to any requirements of the West Virginia board of
veterinary medicine, the drug enforcement administration or the
state of West Virginia.
(e) The board of veterinary medicine shall maintain
authority over the certified animal euthanasia technicians as
their certification regulatory agency. The board of veterinary
medicine may take disciplinary action against a certified animal
euthanasia technician when justified due to misconduct. Such
action may include, but not be limited to, fines, suspension or
revocation of certification. Any disciplinary action by the
board of veterinary medicine may not infringe upon the authority
of any law-enforcement department or agency.
(f) The board of veterinary medicine has the right to
suspend the authority of a certified animal euthanasia
technician. Upon any such suspension it shall notify the drug
enforcement administration thereof. In the event of suspension
or revocation of the rights to perform the activities of a
certified animal euthanasia technician, it is solely the responsibility of the animal control facility or humane society
to replace the suspended or revoked technician with a qualified
and authorized individual capable of performing animal
euthanasia.
(g) In the event that sodium pentobarbital is no longer
approved as the euthanasia "drug of choice" for animals by either
state or federal mandate, the West Virginia board of veterinary
medicine shall make the determination of the replacement "drug of
choice" for sodium pentobarbital for use by certified animal
euthanasia technicians. Said replacement "drug of choice" shall
be administered and controlled by the certified animal euthanasia
technician, according to its controlled substance schedule as set
by the drug enforcement administration and in full compliance
with the laws of West Virginia and the requirements of the West
Virginia board of veterinary medicine.
(h) Certified animal euthanasia technicians are authorized
to purchase, acquire, handle and administer only sodium
pentobarbital through their drug enforcement administration
registration. Only in the event that sodium pentobarbital is no
longer approved or legally obtainable shall this restriction be
altered. In such case, the determined "drug of choice" for
animal euthanasia as specified by the West Virginia board of
veterinary medicine shall be authorized for usage by qualified
certified animal euthanasia technicians.
§30-10A-4. Board to propose legislative rules.
The board of veterinary medicine shall propose legislative
rules to fulfill the purposes of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the required
employment position of certified animal euthanasia technicians
in order to ensure humane administration of euthanasia to animals
at animal shelters and other facilities. The bill provides for
the board of veterinarian medicine to oversee the training,
testing, certification, renewal of certification and employment
of certified animal euthanasia technicians.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.