Injunction prevents non-veterinarian from performing equine dentistry

Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, April 12, 2006

The B.C. Veterinary Medical Association has been awarded an injunction preventing a B.C. man from "floating" horses' teeth because he is not a qualified veterinarian.

The injunction prohibits Bill Bishop, doing business under the name The Horse's Mouth Equine Dentistry, from performing equine dentistry.

It was granted by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen after a five-day hearing in which Bishop unsuccessfully argued that floating horses' teeth -- balancing them to ensure proper surfaces when a horse eats -- was traditionally done by farriers, the professionals who shoe horses, and not vets.

The ruling will prevent Bishop from practising in B.C. but won't affect his operations in Alberta, said his Vancouver lawyer George Gregory.

Gregory said it appears veterinarians only became interested in floating teeth after the advent of small power tools that enable them to grind teeth.

"Before that it was a long and difficult process that had to be done by hand," he said.

gbellett@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Sun 2006