Pat Ryan, Saskatchewan’s first trained equine dentist, said she intends to continue her work despite being convicted of practising veterinary medicine without a licence.
The Saskatoon woman said she was only guilty of administering a restricted drug to calm a horse and reduce its pain while she attempted to remove its wolf teeth.
Ryan said she will continue to treat horses’ teeth, but will work within the law.
The Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association said the conviction should send a message that those calling themselves equine dentists need to be under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian.
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Provincial court judge Sheila Whelan said in her judgment that Ryan’s actions, beyond the injection of an illegally imported sedative, constituted practising veterinary medicine without a licence.
Ryan was attempting to remove the animal’s teeth to prevent injury from its riding bit.
The judge said the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medicine Act states that the practice of medicine to prevent an injury, protect health or treat an illness would include the type of dental treatment Ryan administered to a horse in Martensville, Sask., on Oct. 10, 2005.
However, Whelan said she was not ruling on whether equine dentists should fall under the legislative cloak of the Saskatchewan Veterinarians Act.
The veterinarians’ group unsuccessfully attempted to have the act amended last spring to prevent equine dental practitioners from plying their trade without a degree in veterinary medicine or being under the direct supervision of a vet.
Only Alberta and Saskatchewan’s acts fail to list animal dentistry as a veterinary procedure.
The SVMA has long claimed that any medical treatment of animals, other than by their owners, may be administered only by licensed veterinarians.
Ryan said she has treated hundreds of horses in the two years she has been practising and this was the only incident where things went wrong. Paris, a five-year old Arabian horse, was being trained and was having discomfort with the bit, apparently due to wolf teeth.
The trainer recommended Ryan’s services to Paris’s owner Susan Grandberg, who said she hired the equine dentist without question because she was inexperienced as a horse owner.
But Ryan said the owner didn’t want to spend more for a veterinarian.
What no one knew was that Paris has an allergy to the drug Ryan obtained from an American colleague.
Ryan had difficulty injecting the horse. The animal suddenly collapsed into convulsions. When it had recovered slightly, Ryan began the procedure to remove the teeth. Before she could complete the process, the horse again collapsed.
This time the owner phoned a local veterinarian for assistance. The horse survived.
Ryan said she lied to the veterinarian about the drug’s use, but later admitted to giving the horse a restricted, covertly imported drug.
“I knew I shouldn’t have been using the product and that was a mistake. For that I was found guilty and fined $400,” she said.
Ryan said her conviction won’t likely put an end to the practice of equine dentistry in Saskatchewan by the three or four trained but unlicensed technicians in the province.
Curt Hagele, executive director of the vet association, disagreed.
“This judgment should send a message to all concerned. We have a judgment that says if you are involved in the removal or modification of tissues, or you treat illness or injury, then you must be a licensed veterinarian.”
