Veterinary and Animal Services

Function by function

Each function of a veterinary and animal-services employer was reached by orders in every quarter, and for each function the orders compelled a modification that the Notice's own Q&A-17 and Q&A-18 describe as a partial suspension: closure, appointment-only service, capacity limits, curbside operation, remote operation, masking, screening, PPE conditions and the quarantine of staff. This section states, for each function, the instruments that reached it in each quarter, the modification each compelled, and the determination in the statute's words.

CL: clinical and surgical services

Second quarter of 2020: the elective-procedure suspensions of Colorado (Ex. CO-007), Minnesota (Ex. SEC-26-004; Ex. MN-005), Oregon (Ex. OR-005), Michigan (Ex. SEC-26-009), Indiana (Ex. IN-011; Ex. IN-020) and Utah (Ex. UT-003; Ex. UT-014; Ex. MET-SLC-005); the recommencement orders that followed (Ex. CO-021; Ex. CO-022; Ex. MN-018; Ex. OR-015); the workplace rules of Michigan's Executive Order 2020-96 (Ex. MI-030); Wisconsin's direction that "[n]on-essential veterinary care should be avoided" (Ex. WI-002); the stay-at-home orders that closed every waiting room to every customer except for enumerated purposes (Ex. IL-005; Ex. MI-020; Ex. MN-010; Ex. OH-011; Ex. CA-002; Ex. WA-017 and the State table on this page); the telemedicine and VCPR waivers (Ex. SEC-26-001; Ex. AGY-ST-AGRICULTURE-PARKS-WILDLIFE-091; Ex. PA-091; Ex. CO-088; Ex. ME-014; Ex. HI-007; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-029). Third quarter of 2020: the recommencement orders (Ex. CO-022; Ex. MN-018; Ex. OR-015); the face-covering orders naming veterinary clinics, exposure controls on the clinic's premises (Ex. PA-015; Ex. KS-030; Ex. KS-081; Ex. KS-088; Ex. CA-016; Ex. DE-017); Virginia's Emergency Temporary Standard (Ex. VA-036). Fourth quarter of 2020: MIOSHA's rules and MDHHS's waiting-room limits for "veterinary clinics" (Ex. MI-054; Ex. MI-059); Oregon OSHA's Appendix A-10 "Veterinary Care" (Ex. OR-032); Colorado's Level Red order confining settings "ordered by a medical, dental or veterinary practitioner" to PHO 20-29's regime at ten percent (Ex. CO-037); Pennsylvania's Updated Order (Ex. PA-020); Cal/OSHA's section 3205 (Ex. CA-024 as readopted; the November 30, 2020 original is recited in it). First quarter of 2021: the same, with Virginia's permanent standard (Ex. VA-037) and Brookings' ordinance (Ex. SD-078). Second quarter of 2021: the same through their expiry (Ex. CO-094; Ex. MN-018; Ex. OR-015; Ex. OR-043; Ex. MI-071; Ex. MI-074; Ex. PA-100; Ex. DE-038) and Oregon OSHA's permanent rule (Ex. OR-041; Ex. OR-044). Third quarter of 2021: the DEA exceptions (Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-009; Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-010; Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-011), with GFI #269 as the guidance record of the compelled substitute (Ex. SEC-26-001); section 3205 (Ex. CA-024); 16VAC25-220 (Ex. VA-037; Ex. VA-038); Oregon OSHA's PPE provisions and restored "Veterinary Clinics" appendix (Ex. OR-041; Ex. OR-044; Ex. OR-049); the telemedicine regimes of California, Pennsylvania, Maine, Kentucky and Hawaii (Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-040; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-042; Ex. PA-040; Ex. PA-043; Ex. ME-060; Ex. KY-046; Ex. KY-056; Ex. HI-023; Ex. HI-026); Delaware's veterinary-facility face-covering and exclusion requirements to July 12 (Ex. DE-038); the indoor face-covering orders of seven States, the District and the metros, airborne-transmission controls on every premises (Ex. LA-036; Ex. OR-048; Ex. NM-067; Ex. WA-078; Ex. IL-042; Ex. NV-041; Ex. HI-016; Ex. DC-057; Ex. KS-095; Ex. MET-LA-018; Ex. MET-SFO-010; Ex. MET-SAC-015; Ex. MET-STL-021; Ex. MET-CHI-026; Ex. MET-BAL-017; Ex. MET-PHL-019; Ex. MET-MSY-027; Ex. MET-DCM-023; Ex. MET-BOS-013).

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: every elective and non-essential procedure postponed for five to eight weeks in six States; every procedure thereafter conditioned on a written plan, PPE adequacy, screening and owner consent in three States for a year or more; every waiting room closed and every examination conducted with the owner in the parking lot and the history taken by telephone; every customer masked at the door by name in six jurisdictions and as a member of the public everywhere, a face covering being one of the exposure controls each order placed on the premises; telemedicine compelled "to the fullest extent possible" in Michigan and made the lawful substitute for the examination in six States by waiver, by compulsion in Michigan, and under federal law by the DEA exceptions and the FDA's enforcement policy; PPE duties, screening, signage and waiting-room limits written into the workplace rules of Michigan, Oregon, Virginia and California.

EM: emergency and urgent care

The suspension orders defined the emergency line as the only line permitted: Michigan's four categories (Ex. SEC-26-009 ¶ 5), Minnesota's veterinary criteria (Ex. SEC-26-004 ¶ d), Oregon's three-month test (Ex. OR-005), Colorado's irreversible-harm standard (Ex. CO-007); the stay-at-home orders permitted travel for the care the orders left un-postponed (Ex. MI-020; Ex. MI-024; Ex. MI-026); the recommencement orders governed triage (Ex. CO-022; Ex. MN-018; Ex. OR-015); the face-covering, workplace and waiting-room orders of the later quarters reached the emergency hospital as they reached every clinic (Ex. MI-054; Ex. MI-059; Ex. OR-032; Ex. VA-036; Ex. VA-037; Ex. CA-024; Ex. PA-015; Ex. KS-030; Ex. DE-017; Ex. DE-038); in the third quarter of 2021 the DEA exceptions (Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-009; Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-010; Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-011), the State-plan workplace standards and the Delta-wave face-covering orders (Ex. CA-024; Ex. VA-038; Ex. OR-049; Ex. OR-048; Ex. LA-036; Ex. NM-067; Ex. WA-078; Ex. IL-042; Ex. DC-057), with GFI #269 as the guidance record of the compelled substitute (Ex. SEC-26-001), and Hawaii's Executive Order 21-06 naming veterinarians among the professionals the Department of Health could direct to postpone elective procedures (Ex. HI-026).¹⁷⁶

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: triage at the door under the orders' own definitions of essential care; curbside intake; the exclusion of the owner from the treatment area; a face covering on every entrant as one of the exposure controls on the premises; PPE minimized "to the fullest extent possible" in Michigan and conserved by order in Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon while the emergency caseload continued.

BD: boarding and daycare

The essential designations that fixed the premises open under conditions (Ex. FL-010; Ex. MD-006; Ex. IL-005; Ex. OH-011; Ex. MT-009; Ex. WI-002; Ex. MN-010; Ex. NM-022; Ex. CO-037; Ex. MET-STL-077; Ex. MET-DFW-079; Ex. MET-MIA-045); Dallas County's confinement of daycare to essential workers' pets (Ex. MET-DFW-007); Kentucky's Healthy at Work requirements for boarding (Ex. KY-017; Ex. SEC-18-040); New York's limitation of boarding to "the extent necessary to ensure animal health" (Ex. NY-090); Vermont's two-person rule for pet care operators (Ex. VT-015); the travel orders that removed the boarding customer's trip in every quarter: the entry proclamations, the land-border prohibition, the consular suspension, the No Sail and Conditional Sailing Orders, the State traveler quarantines and Hawaii's Safe Travels (Ex. FED-200; Ex. FED-201; Ex. FED-207; Ex. FED-208; Ex. FED-216; Ex. FED-239; Ex. FED-232; Ex. FED-255; Ex. FED-327; Ex. ECO-C-138; Ex. ECO-C-140; Ex. HI-023; Ex. HI-024; Ex. KS-057; Ex. ECO-C-010; Ex. ECO-C-011); the telework mandates that removed the daycare customer's workday (Ex. CO-010; Ex. CO-011; Ex. NJ-004; Ex. OR-007; Ex. MI-030; Ex. ME-014; Ex. ME-025); the winter gathering bans and stay-at-home advisories of the 2020 holiday season (Ex. CO-037; Ex. NM-040; Ex. WA-047; Ex. MET-LA-077); the Delta-wave face-covering orders on the premises (Ex. LA-036; Ex. OR-048; Ex. NM-067; Ex. WA-078; Ex. IL-042; Ex. NV-041; Ex. HI-016; Ex. DC-057); the workplace standards of California, Oregon and Virginia (Ex. CA-024; Ex. OR-041; Ex. VA-037).¹⁷⁷

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: daycare confined to essential workers' pets; boarding confined to animal health; a two-person limit; curbside drop-off in a crate; a face covering on every customer under the exposure-control orders on the premises; and a boarding calendar fixed by orders that closed the borders, quarantined the traveler and emptied the office.

GR: grooming and training

Second quarter of 2020: the closures of Maine, Minnesota, Colorado, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Hawaii, Illinois and the City of Los Angeles (Ex. ME-008; Ex. MN-012; Ex. CO-020; Ex. MA-017; Ex. KY-017; Ex. OK-021; Ex. WV-026; Ex. HI-008; Ex. IL-013; Ex. MET-LA-032); the limitations of Indiana, New York, Dallas County and Honolulu (Ex. IN-016; Ex. IN-020; Ex. NY-090; Ex. MET-DFW-007; Ex. MET-HNL-009); the conditioned reopenings (Ex. SEC-18-040; Ex. HI-008; Ex. MET-BAL-054; Ex. MET-SEA-029; Ex. MN-017; Ex. ME-020; Ex. ME-081; Ex. WA-034); the gathering caps that closed the training class (the State table on this page). Third quarter of 2020: the personal-services rules of every reopening State (appointment-only, capacity, face coverings) and Kentucky's crate-and-curbside rule (Ex. SEC-18-040). Fourth quarter of 2020: New Mexico's second closure (Ex. NM-040); Colorado's twenty-five percent (Ex. CO-037); California's "limited service" treatment (Ex. MET-LA-077; Ex. MET-LA-034); the winter gathering bans. First and second quarters of 2021: the winter frameworks to their expiry; Kentucky's requirements to June 11, 2021 (Ex. SEC-18-040; Ex. KY-049); Colorado's Dial to April 16, 2021 (Ex. CO-051); the Jefferson and Boulder County face-covering orders naming "dog grooming" in May 2021 (Ex. MET-DEN-104; Ex. MET-DEN-114). Third quarter of 2021: the workplace standards and the indoor face-covering orders on every grooming room (Ex. CA-024; Ex. VA-037; Ex. OR-049; Ex. OR-048; Ex. LA-036; Ex. NM-067; Ex. WA-078; Ex. IL-042; Ex. NV-041; Ex. HI-016; Ex. DC-057 and the metros); Honolulu's gathering caps from August 23, 2021 (Ex. MET-HNL-033); Honolulu's "Required Conditions" on every designated business (Ex. MET-HNL-038).¹⁷⁸

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: closure for four to thirteen weeks in the spring of 2020 and two weeks in New Mexico in the winter; reopening by appointment only, at fifty or twenty-five percent, with the pet delivered "curbside, in a crate, or in an entry room" and the customer waiting in the car; the training class prohibited by gathering caps of ten and reduced to the caps thereafter; a face covering on every groomer and customer as one of the exposure controls on the salon.

SH: shelters, rescues and adoption

The essential designations that fixed the conditions of operation (Ex. IL-005; Ex. OH-011; Ex. MT-009; Ex. WI-002; Ex. MN-010; Ex. NM-022; Ex. CO-037; Ex. MET-STL-077; Ex. MET-DFW-007); the gathering caps of every State on adoption events and volunteer shifts (the State table on this page); the stay-at-home orders on volunteers and adopters; the winter gathering bans; the Delta-wave face-covering orders; and, from July 14, 2021, the CDC's suspension of dog importation, addressed to the rescues that import and the veterinarians that certify (Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-126).

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: adoption by appointment; adoption events cancelled under gathering caps; volunteer shifts curtailed under stay-at-home orders; intake and transfer under the importation suspension; a face covering on every adoption floor under the exposure-control orders on the premises.

RT: retail and pharmacy

Pet stores and pet supply essential under conditions (Ex. IL-005; Ex. KY-008; Ex. RI-074; Ex. MD-006; Ex. MET-PHL-002; Ex. MET-DFW-007); the DEA exceptions for telemedicine prescribing, early refills and out-of-State practice from March 16-25, 2020 through the public health emergency (Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-009; Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-010; Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-011); GFI #269's extralabel and veterinary-feed-directive enforcement policy, guidance by its own legend and cited as the record of the compelled substitute, from March 24, 2020 to February 21, 2023 (Ex. SEC-26-001; Ex. SEC-26-002); California's prescription-refill extensions from June 4, 2020 to October 31, 2021 (Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-029; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-035; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-040; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-042); the face-covering orders at every counter; the curbside conditions of the stay-at-home orders; the AVMA's finding that more than three quarters of practices saw pet owners move their food and medication purchases online (Ex. SEC-26-007).¹⁷⁹

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: dispensing by telemedicine prescription and curbside handoff; extralabel and controlled-substance prescribing under emergency federal rules; a face covering at the counter under the exposure-control orders on the premises; the retail line moved online.

SC: PPE and pharmaceutical supply

The Defense Production Act orders of March 18, 23, 27 and April 28, 2020 (Ex. FED-070; Ex. FED-071; Ex. FED-072; Ex. FED-073); the scarce-materials designation of March 25, 2020, extended February 1 and July 7, 2021 to November 15, 2021 (Ex. FED-074; Ex. ECO-A-070; Ex. ECO-A-071); the FEMA allocation and export rule of April 7, 2020 to June 30, 2021 (Ex. SEC-02-010; Ex. FED-075; Ex. FED-076; Ex. FED-077; Ex. FED-078; Ex. FED-079); the State PPE orders on veterinary facilities: Minnesota's inventory (Ex. MN-007), New Jersey's inventory and reporting (Ex. NJ-006), Oregon's surrender (Ex. OR-005), Michigan's minimization (Ex. SEC-26-009), Colorado's conservation (Ex. CO-007); PPE adequacy as the condition of recommencement in Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon (Ex. CO-022; Ex. MN-018; Ex. OR-015); Oregon OSHA's PPE duties for veterinary clinics from November 16, 2020 and restored August 13, 2021 (Ex. OR-032; Ex. OR-044; Ex. OR-049); the FDA's revocation of the respirator authorizations effective June 30 and July 6, 2021 (Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-048; Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-049).¹⁸⁰

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: respirators, masks, gloves and gowns bought in a market under federal allocation and export detention in which accumulation was a crime; inventories reported to the State; surplus surrendered; use minimized and reused (the AVMA found more than a quarter of practices sanitizing and reusing PPE in April 2020); elective surgery conditioned on the supply; and, in July 2021, the lawful basis for imported and decontaminated respirators withdrawn.

HR: hiring, credentialing and State board licensure

The telemedicine and VCPR waivers of the FDA and of California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Maine and Pennsylvania, Kentucky's Board of Veterinary Examiners Order of April 16, 2020 (Ex. KY-046; Ex. KY-056), Michigan's telemedicine compulsion and Missouri's suspension of its telemedicine statutes (Ex. SEC-26-001; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-029; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-030; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-035; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-037; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-040; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-042; Ex. CO-088; Ex. AGY-ST-AGRICULTURE-PARKS-WILDLIFE-091; Ex. HI-007; Ex. HI-023; Ex. ME-014; Ex. ME-060; Ex. SEC-26-009; Ex. PA-091; Ex. PA-055; Ex. PA-040; Ex. PA-043; Ex. MO-002); Maine's emergency and reactivated licenses (Ex. ME-014); California's face-to-face training waiver (Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-030); Tennessee's suspension of veterinary facility inspections (Ex. TN-017); Missouri's telemedicine suspensions to August 27, 2021 and their re-imposition by Executive Order 21-09 through December 31, 2021 (Ex. MO-002; Ex. MO-018; Ex. MO-020); the PREP Act Seventh Amendment and California's DCA-21-137 making veterinarians and veterinary students vaccinators (Ex. SEC-26-003; Ex. AGY-ST-HEALTH-BOARDS-037); the entry proclamations and consular suspensions on foreign-trained staff (Ex. FED-200; Ex. FED-201; Ex. FED-202; Ex. FED-203; Ex. FED-207; Ex. FED-208; Ex. FED-211; Ex. FED-327); Hawaii's Executive Order 21-06 (Ex. HI-026); Washington's Proclamation 21-14 (Ex. WA-077), which excluded veterinary settings from the health-care mandate and so shows the line the regulator drew.

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: the rules of licensure and practice remade by emergency order for eighteen months; inspections suspended; training waived; the licensed workforce designated a vaccination workforce; foreign recruiting suspended.

OP: administration, front desk and telework

The telework mandates of the closure States (Ex. CO-010; Ex. CO-011; Ex. NJ-004; Ex. OR-007; Ex. MI-030; Ex. ME-014; Ex. ME-025; Ex. NY-090; Ex. PA-008; Ex. DC-005); Michigan's telemedicine compulsion (Ex. SEC-26-009 ¶ 2); the MIOSHA remote-work prohibition and the MDHHS waiting-room limits for veterinary clinics (Ex. MI-054; Ex. MI-059); the winter telework mandates of Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, Washington and Kentucky (Ex. PA-022; Ex. PA-020; Ex. CO-037; Ex. MET-LA-034; Ex. WA-047; Ex. KY-033); the written-plan requirements of the recommencement orders (Ex. CO-022; Ex. MN-018; Ex. OR-015) and the workplace standards (Ex. CA-024; Ex. VA-037; Ex. OR-041); the employer duties of the Delta-wave orders (Ex. WA-078; Ex. IL-043; Ex. MET-SAC-015; Ex. NM-060; Ex. CO-041; Ex. TX-036; Ex. NY-136; Ex. NY-127); the Sedgwick County and Wichita face-covering orders and Pennsylvania's Worker Safety Order, with its screening and occupancy rules, on every open business (Ex. KS-081; Ex. KS-088; Ex. PA-008).¹⁸¹

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: administrative staff sent home by order; the front desk converted to a telephone and a parking lot; written prevention plans, screening scripts, signage and posted protocols drafted and kept; waiting rooms cleared by order; employer enforcement duties on every face-covering mandate.

WF: workforce availability

The school closures of every State in the spring of 2020 and the remote and hybrid orders of 2020-21 (Ex. LAW-229; the State orders in the State table on this page); the emergency-only child-care orders (Ex. DE-011; Ex. NJ-007; Ex. OR-007; Ex. MN-010); the FFCRA leave mandate for quarantine, isolation and school and place-of-care closures, April 1 to December 31, 2020 (Ex. FED-170; Ex. FED-171; Ex. FED-172); the stay-at-home orders under which staff carried travel letters (Ex. SEC-26-008); the quarantine and isolation directives of Kansas, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Indiana (Ex. KS-057; Ex. NH-063; Ex. RI-071; Ex. IN-092); the exclusion duties of the workplace standards (Ex. CA-024; Ex. VA-037; Ex. OR-041; Ex. MI-054); the CDC conveyance order and TSA directives on every transit commute from February 1, 2021 (Ex. FED-020; Ex. FED-051; Ex. FED-052); the 2021-22 school and child-care face-covering and quarantine orders (Ex. ECO-B-029; Ex. ECO-B-036; Ex. ECO-B-054; Ex. ECO-B-066; Ex. ECO-B-079; Ex. ECO-B-080; Ex. ECO-B-087; Ex. CA-034; Ex. ECO-B-085; Ex. PA-042; Ex. KY-052; Ex. VA-044; Ex. DE-044; Ex. LA-054; Ex. OR-045; Ex. WA-075; Ex. DC-074; Ex. NM-068; Ex. MI-081; Ex. TX-053); the vaccination-or-testing conditions on household members in the public, school and human-health workforces (Ex. CA-030; Ex. CA-031; Ex. NY-071; Ex. NJ-056; Ex. IL-043; Ex. WA-077; Ex. OR-046; Ex. MN-044; Ex. NM-063; Ex. DE-046; Ex. HI-024).¹⁸²

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: staff kept home by school and child-care closures, by mandatory leave, by quarantine directives and by exclusion duties; every transit commute masked by federal law; the 2021-22 school year opened under orders that sent exposed children home.

CB: the customer base

The stay-at-home orders confining pet owners to enumerated purposes in more than forty States, and in Michigan to un-postponed veterinary services (Ex. MI-020; Ex. MI-024; Ex. MI-026 and the State table on this page); the curfews, gathering bans and stay-at-home advisories of the winter of 2020-21; the face-covering orders of every quarter and the Delta-wave reinstatements, the exposure controls on every indoor space the customer entered; the proof-of-vaccination regimes of New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans and Honolulu (Ex. MET-NYC-017; Ex. MET-SFO-011; Ex. MET-MSY-029; Ex. MET-HNL-035); the eviction and foreclosure moratoria (Ex. FED-022; Ex. FED-023; Ex. FED-024; Ex. FED-025; Ex. FED-026; Ex. SEC-13-014; Ex. FED-364; Ex. FED-379; Ex. ECO-C-084; Ex. ECO-C-101; Ex. ECO-C-091; Ex. ECO-C-081; Ex. ECO-C-096); the plant orders and consular suspensions on agricultural customers (Ex. FED-073; Ex. ECO-A-080; Ex. ECO-A-081; Ex. ECO-A-082; Ex. FED-211; Ex. FED-327); the importation suspension on breeders and rescues (Ex. AGY-FED-HEALTH-OTHER-126); the border orders on Canadian and Mexican customers and practice owners (Ex. FED-216; Ex. FED-239; Ex. FED-232; Ex. FED-233; Ex. FED-234; Ex. FED-235; Ex. FED-255; Ex. FED-256; Ex. FED-257; Ex. FED-258; Ex. SEC-26-006); the unemployment the Bureau of Labor Statistics attributed to "the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it" (Ex. LAW-206; Ex. LAW-224).¹⁸³

The modification

The orders compelled these modifications: the customer confined to his home except for the care the orders left un-postponed; the boarding customer kept from traveling; the agricultural customer's plant closed or slowed by order; the breeder's and rescue's imports suspended; the customer's finances governed by moratoria and by unemployment the Government's own agencies attributed to the orders.