A Texas law prohibiting veterinarians from remote care without first visiting animals violates U.S. constitutional rights, a federal appeals court has ruled.
The law unconstitutionally restricted the speech of Dr. Ronald S. Hines, a veterinarian, judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said in the Sept. 26 ruling.
“Today, we uphold Dr. Hines’s First Amendment rights,” U.S. Circuit Judge Don R. Willett wrote.
The Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners determined that Hines’s care of animals violated a law that requires veterinarians to establish a veterinarian client-patient relationship, either by examining an animal in person or visiting the premises at which the animal is staying. The state rejected Hines’s attempts to avoid punishment and, under an agreement between the parties, Hines agreed to serve a year of probation, pay a $500 fine, and retake part of the veterinary licensing exam….