As any other clinical profession, veterinary physiotherapy is covered by legislation, which refers to several areas like therapies, animal welfare, data protection, health and safety, copyrights, and other animal legislation.

​

​The main acts of legislation relevant to this profession are two. The first one is the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (Legislation.gov.uk, 2020a), and more specifically Section 19, which describes the treatment of animals by unqualified persons. The second is the Veterinary Surgery Exemptions Order 2015 (Legislation.gov.uk, 2020b), specifically Section 2, which refers to conditions under which Physiotherapy is not prohibited.

​

Any animal-related job is covered by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (Legislation.gov.uk, 2020c) as well as with other animal legislation. One of these acts which is of particular interest is the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (Legislation.gov.uk, 2020d), and especially Section 1, related to banned dog breeds. During our lecture about legislation, we were given four scenarios on which we were supposed to reflect our legislation knowledge and decide how we would act. In one of these scenarios, there was a picture of a dog who belonged to the breed of Fila Brasileiro. Even though I work as a small animal vet for years, I have never seen a dog of this breed before, and I found out it belongs to the list of the banned breeds (Gov.uk, 2020). At that moment I realized the importance of having good knowledge of legislation, as ignorance can end up in an offense or even a work accident. Therefore, good knowledge of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (Hse.gov.uk, 2020) is also of high importance.

​

Another big part of our profession is dealing with personal information, keeping records, and sharing information with colleagues. Consequently, there is legislation covering all these areas ensuring information is protected. Such are the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Data Protection Act 2018 (Ico.gov.uk, 2020).

​

Regarding Veterinary Physiotherapy, relevant legislation has many “grey areas” that need further clarification. Hence, staying updated becomes a necessity to be professional.

 

 

​

 

REFERENCES:

 

Gov.uk. 2020. Controlling your dog in public. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/banned-dogs (accessed 11.28.20).

​

Hse.gov.uk. 2020. Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974. [online] Available at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm (accessed 29.11.20)

​

Ico.gov.uk. 2020. Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR. [online] Available at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/ (accessed 11.28.20).

​

Legislation.gov.uk. 2020a Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1966/36 (accessed 11.29.20a).

​

Legislation.gov.uk. 2020b. The Veterinary Surgery (Exemptions) Order 2015. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/772 (accessed 11.29.20b).

​

Legislation.gov.uk. 2020c. Animal Welfare Act 2006. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/45/contents (accessed 11.29.20c).

​

Legislation.gov.uk. 2020d. Dangerous Dogs Act. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/contents (accessed 11.28.20d). 

​

Legislation.gov.uk. 2020e. Data Protection Act 1998. [online] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents (accessed 11.28.20e).