WSR 21-03-022
PERMANENT RULES
HORSE RACING COMMISSION
[Filed January 8, 2021, 2:27 p.m., effective February 8, 2021]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: To remove language that requires an official veterinarian to hold a Washington state veterinarian license to be employed by the agency per RCW
18.92.060.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 260-24-550 Official veterinarian(s).
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW
67.16.020.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 20-23-063 on November 16, 2020.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: January 8, 2021.
Douglas L. Moore
Executive Secretary
OTS-2624.2
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 08-05-088, filed 2/15/08, effective 3/17/08)
WAC 260-24-550Official veterinarian(s).
The official veterinarian(s) will be employed by the commission, and be a graduate veterinarian, licensed to practice veterinary medicine in ((
the state of Washington))
a recognized jurisdiction approved by the executive secretary. An official veterinarian is exempt from Washington state licensure per RCW 18.92.060. The official veterinarian(s) will perform the following duties:
(1) Recommend to the board of stewards any horse the official veterinarian believes is unsafe to be raced, or a horse that it would be inhumane to allow to race;
(2) Place and remove horses from the veterinarian's list;
(3) Place and remove horses from the bleeder list;
(4) Supervise the test barn;
(5) Supervise the collection of all specimens for testing;
(6) Provide proper safeguards in the handling of all collected specimens to prevent tampering, confusion or contamination;
(7) Provide the stewards a written report regarding the nature, seriousness, and meaning of concentration levels, if any, for all laboratory reports of prohibited substances in equine samples;
(8) Have jurisdiction over all licensed veterinarians on the grounds for the purpose of these rules;
(9) Report to the commission the names of all horses humanely destroyed or that die on the grounds at the race meet. This report will include the reason a horse was destroyed;
(10) Maintain records of postmortem examinations performed on horses that have died on association grounds;
(11) Be available to the stewards prior to scratch time each race day to inspect any horses and report on their condition;
(12) Be present in the paddock during saddling, on the racetrack during the post parade and at the starting gate until the horses are dispatched from the gate for the race;
(13) Inspect any horse when there is a question as to its physical condition or soundness;
(14) Recommend to the stewards a horse be scratched if the horse is physically incapable of exerting its best effort to win;
(15) Inspect any horse that appears in physical distress during the race or at the finish of the race and report their findings to the stewards;
(16) Work with practicing veterinarians and other regulatory agencies to take measures to control communicable and/or reportable equine diseases;
(17) Periodically review horse registration certificates to ensure that all required test and health certificates are current and properly filed in accordance with these rules; and
(18) Humanely destroy any horse so seriously injured that it is in the best interests of the horse to act.