WAC 260-24-550. Official veterinarian(s)

The official veterinarian(s) will be employed by the commission, and be a graduate veterinarian, licensed to practice veterinary medicine in 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.