2017 WISCONSIN ACT 166
An Act to amend 89.05 (1); and
to create 256.04 (11) and 256.155 of the statutes; relating to: the rendering of first aid to animals by emergency medical services practitioners or emergency medical responders.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
166,1
Section
1. 89.05 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
89.05 (1) Except as provided under sub. (2) and
s. ss. 256.155 and 257.03, no person may offer to practice, advertise to practice or practice veterinary medicine, or use, in connection with his or her name, any title or description which may convey the impression that he or she is a veterinarian, without a license or temporary permit from the examining board. For purposes of this subsection, a person who makes extra-label use of a drug on an animal without a prescription or in any manner not authorized by that prescription is considered to be practicing veterinary medicine.
166,2
Section
2. 256.04 (11) of the statutes is created to read:
256.04 (11) Serve as a repository and contact for information and guidance on rendering first aid to domestic animals. In developing any guidance under this subsection, the board shall consult with a licensed veterinarian who is trained in pre-hospitalization emergency care of domestic animals.
166,3
Section
3. 256.155 of the statutes is created to read:
256.155 First aid to domestic animals. (1) Definition. In this section, “domestic animal” has the meaning given in s. 895.484 (1) (a).
(2) Rendering first aid allowed. An emergency medical services practitioner or emergency medical responder who, in the course of responding to a call for service, encounters a domestic animal that is sick or injured may render any first aid service to the domestic animal before the domestic animal is transferred to a veterinarian for further treatment if the service is in the scope of practice of the license or certification of that emergency medical services practitioner or emergency medical responder when applied to human beings.
(3) Immunity from liability. (a) An ambulance service provider, emergency medical services practitioner, or emergency medical responder is immune from civil or criminal liability for any outcomes resulting from an emergency medical services practitioner or an emergency medical responder rendering first aid to a domestic animal in accordance with sub. (2).
(b) An ambulance service provider, emergency medical services practitioner, or emergency medical responder is immune from civil or criminal liability from declining to render first aid to a domestic animal.
