View New Fall '24 Annual Report to Licensees

’24-’25 Deadline to Renew Has Passed!

The ’24-’25 renewal cycle closed September 30th! All licenses not fully renewed are now expired as of October 1st. Practicing veterinary medicine in Louisiana with an expired LA license or certificate is a serious offense for which the Board can take disciplinary action. In accordance with Statute §1531 of the LA Veterinary Practice Act, any person who practices veterinary medicine in Louisiana without a currently valid Louisiana license, certificate, or temporary permit shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $500 for each act of such unlawful practice.

Check the LBVM Online Registry to see if a licensee has an expired license. If you suspect a licensee of practicing veterinary medicine with an expired license, the Board urges you to file a complaint.

LBVM Mission

The LBVM was originally created within the Department of Health and Hospitals to promote the public health, safety and welfare by safeguarding the peoples of the state of Louisiana from incompetent and dishonest practices of veterinary medicine; to encourage more effective utilization of the skills of licensed veterinarians for the health and welfare of animal patients in the delegating of certain veterinary health care tasks to qualified Registered Veterinary Technicians; and to provide the most humane restraint, capture and death possible for unwanted, diseased, dangerous, and discarded animals with the training of Certified Animal Euthanasia Technicians for animal control. The right to practice veterinary medicine is a privilege as set forth by the Legislature and enforced by the Board.

Effective August 1, 2018, the Louisiana Board of Veterinary Medicine was moved to the Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

LA Veterinary Practice Act & Rulemaking

The Louisiana Veterinary Practice Act, the Board Rules, and complimentary legal authority are provided below; however, they are continuously under review and potentially subject to adoption, amendment or repeal at any time based on circumstances presented. It would be prudent to follow the appropriate procedure when submitting queries, when applicable, by reviewing Rule 1423 regarding Declaratory Statements.

Current rulemaking activity as it relates to the LA Veterinary Practice Act can be found at www.lsbvm.org/rulemaking.

LA Veterinary Practice Act, Rules & Standards, Complimentary Laws, & Code of Ethics

If the PDF document of the LA Veterinary Practice Act above does not indicate on the bottom of page one that it was last updated in October ’22, you will need to press the F5 key on your keyboard to refresh the file.)

Recent Board News

Temporary Permits Are Not Issued

The Louisiana Veterinary Practice Act forbids the “practice of veterinary medicine” in Louisiana by anyone who “is not a licensed veterinarian or the holder of a valid temporary permit issued by the board”. La. R.S. 37:1514. The Practice Act allows the board to use...

read more