TITLE 16 OCCUPATIONAL
AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSING
CHAPTER 24 ANIMAL
SHELTERING PROVIDERS
PART 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
16.24.1.1 ISSUING
AGENCY: Regulation and
Licensing Department, Animal Sheltering Board.
[16.24.1.1 NMAC - N,
07/01/09]
16.24.1.2 SCOPE: This part applies to applicants, licensees,
certificate holders and persons or agencies within the jurisdiction of the
board.
[16.24.1.2 NMAC - N,
07/01/09]
16.24.1.3 STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: These rules are
promulgated pursuant to the Animal Sheltering Act, Sections 77-1B-2, 77-1B-3,
77-1B-4, 77-1B-5, 77-1B-6, 77-1B-7, 77-1B-8, 77-1B-9, 77-1B-10 and 77-1B-11
NMSA 1978.
[16.24.1.3 NMAC - N,
07/01/09]
16.24.1.4 DURATION: Until July 1, 2012
[16.24.1.4 NMAC - N,
07/01/09]
16.24.1.5 EFFECTIVE
DATE: July 1, 2009 unless a later date is cited in
the history note at the end of a section.
[16.24.1.5 NMAC - N,
07/01/09]
16.24.1.6 OBJECTIVE: To define terms relevant to animal
sheltering, euthanasia, circumstances under which a license is required,
persons exempted from licensing, custody and alteration of a license,
transferability, display of license, notification of changes, local
regulations, and professional ethical standards, and to set forth standards for
the operation, meeting and record keeping requirements of the board.
[16.24.1.6 NMAC - N,
07/01/09]
16.24.1.7 DEFINITIONS:
A. “Act” means the Animal Sheltering Act,
Sections 77-1B-1 through 77-1B-12 NMSA 1978.
B. “Animal” means any animal, except
humans, not defined as "livestock" in Subsection T of this section.
C. “Animal shelter” means:
(1) a
county or municipal facility that provides shelter to animals on a regular
basis, including a dog pound; and
(2) a private humane
society or a private animal shelter that temporarily houses stray, unwanted or
injured animals through administrative or contractual arrangements with a local
government agency; and
(3) does
not include a municipal zoological park.
D. “Board” means the animal sheltering board.
E. “Companion animal” means any vertebrate
commonly kept as domestic pets, excluding man, and those under the jurisdiction
of the New Mexico department of game and fish and those under the jurisdiction
of the New Mexico livestock board.
F. “Consulting pharmacist” means a
pharmacist whose services are engaged on a routine basis by a euthanasia agency
and who is responsible for the distribution, receipt and storage of drugs
according to the state and federal regulations.
G. “Dangerous drug” means a drug, other
than a controlled substance enumerated in Schedule I of the Controlled
Substances Act, that because of a potentiality for harmful effect or the method
of its use or the collateral measures necessary to its use is not safe, except
under the supervision of a practitioner licensed by law to direct the use of
such drug and hence for which adequate directions for use cannot be prepared.
‘Adequate directions for use’ means directions under which the layperson can
use a drug or device safely and for the purposes for which it is intended.
H. “DEA” means
United States drug enforcement administration.
I. “Department” means the regulation and
licensing department.
J. “Disposition” means the adoption of an
animal; return of an animal to the owner; release of an animal to a rescue
organization; release of an animal to another animal shelter or to a
rehabilitator licensed by the department of game and fish or the United States
fish and wildlife service; or euthanasia of an animal.
K. “Emergency field
euthanasia” means the process defined by rule of the board to cause the
death of an animal in an emergency situation when the safe and humane transport
of the animal is not possible.
L. “Euthanasia” means to produce the
humane death of an animal by standards deemed acceptable to the board as set
forth in its rules.
M. “Euthanasia agency”
means a facility licensed by the board that provides shelter to animals on a
regular basis, including a dog pound, a humane society or a public or private
shelter facility that temporarily houses stray, unwanted or injured animals,
and that performs euthanasia.
N. “Euthanasia drugs”
means non-narcotic schedule II or schedule III substances and chemicals as set
forth in the Controlled Substances Act, Section 30-31-1 et.
seq. NMSA 1978,
that are used for the purposes of euthanasia and pre-euthanasia of animals.
O. “Euthanasia
instructor” means a euthanasia technician or a veterinarian certified by
the board to instruct other individuals in euthanasia techniques.
P. “Euthanasia technician”
means a person licensed by the board to euthanize animals for a euthanasia
agency.
Q. “Exotic” means
any vertebrate animal, excluding man, wild animals, livestock and companion
animals.
R. “FDA” means
United States food and drug administration.
S. “Humanely” means actions marked by
compassion, sympathy or consideration, especially for the prevention of the
suffering of the animal.
T. “Livestock”
means all domestic or domesticated animals that are used or raised on a farm or
ranch and exotic animals in captivity and includes horses, asses, mules,
cattle, sheep, goats, swine, bison, poultry, ostriches, emus, rheas, camelids
and farmed cervidae but does not include canine or feline animals.
U. “Non-livestock”
means any animal not covered under the definition of livestock in Subsection L
of Section 77-1B-2 NMSA 1978.
V. “Rescue
organization” means an organization that rescues animals and is not
involved in the breeding of animals.
W. “Sharps” means
any discarded article that may cause punctures or cuts. Such wastes may include, but are not limited
to needles, scalpel blades, glass slides, glassware, suture needles and
trocars.
X. “Supervising
veterinarian” means a person who is a veterinarian, who holds both a valid
New Mexico controlled substance license and a valid federal drug enforcement
agency license and who approves the drug protocols and the procurement and
administration of all pharmaceuticals at a euthanasia agency.
Y. “Veterinarian”
means a person who is licensed as a doctor of veterinary medicine by the board
of veterinary medicine pursuant to the Veterinary Practice Act, Section 61-14-1
et. seq. NMSA 1978.
Z. “Veterinaryclinic” means a for profit business that provides diagnostic, preventative and other veterinary services to the public and does not temporarily house stray, unwanted or injured animals through administrative contract arrangements with a local government agency.
AA. “Wild animal” means
any vertebrate animals under the jurisdiction of the New Mexico game and fish department.
[16.24.1.7 NMAC - N,
07/01/09; A, 4/28/12]
16.24.1.8 BOARD
OPERATIONS:
A. Quorum. The
board shall transact official business only at a legally constituted meeting
with a quorum present. A simple majority
of the appointed board members constitutes a quorum. The board is in no way
bound by any opinion, statement, or action of any board member, the board
administrator, or other staff except when such action is pursuant to a lawful
instruction or direction of the board.
B. Addressing the
board. Except for proceedings to adopt, amend, or repeal rules in
accordance with the Uniform Licensing Act, Section 61-1-29 NMSA 1978, the
board, at its sole discretion, may provide a reasonable opportunity for persons
attending an open meeting to address the board on an agenda item. The request
to speak shall be timely made and shall not delay or disrupt the board’s
meeting. No person shall be permitted to address the board on any pending or
concluded application, complaint, investigation, adjudicatory proceeding, or
matter in litigation, except to confer for the purpose of settlement or
simplification of the issues. Any public comment to the board shall be brief,
concise, and relevant to the agenda item. The board may limit the total time
allotted for comments and the time allotted to any person.
C. Conflict of
interest, recusal. Any board member who cannot be impartial in the
determination of a matter before the board and who cannot judge a particular
matter or controversy fairly on the basis of its own merits, including because
the board member had prior knowledge of the controversy, shall not participate
in the any board deliberation or vote on the matter. A board member with a
personal, social, family, financial, business, or pecuniary interest in a
matter shall recuse himself or herself and shall not participate in a hearing,
consideration, deliberation, or vote on the matter, except as provided by law.
D. Confidentiality.
Board members shall not disclose to any non-member the content of any executive
session discussion or deliberation, or any other confidential matters that may
be the subject of an executive session or attorney-client privileged
communications except as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction or where
the board knowingly and intentionally permits disclosure. Nothing herein shall
preclude the board from including in executive session discussions or
confidential committee meetings the board administrator or other persons the
board deems necessary to assist the board in carrying out its operations. Such
other persons shall be bound by the same rules of executive session as board
members.
[16.24.1.8 NMAC - N,
07/01/09]
16.24.1.9 BOARD
MEETING TELEPHONIC ATTENDANCE:
A. Pursuant to the
provisions of the Open Meetings Act, Subsection C of Section 10-15-1, NMSA
1978, board members may participate in a meeting of the board by means of a
conference telephone or similar communications equipment.
(1) Board members’
participation in meetings telephonically shall constitute presence in person at
the meeting.
(2) Telephonic
participation may occur only when it is difficult or impossible for the board
member to be physically present, that is, when there are circumstances which
make attendance in person extremely burdensome.
B. Each board
member participating telephonically shall be identified when speaking and all
participants shall be able to hear all other participants.
C. Members of the
public attending the meeting shall be able to hear all members of the board and
members of the public who speak during the meeting.
[16.24.1.9 NMAC - N,
07/01/09]
16.24.1.10 INSPECTION
OF PUBLIC RECORDS:
A. Public Records. The board operates in compliance with the
Inspection of Public Records Act, Section 14-2-1 et. seq. NMSA 1978. The board administrator is the custodian of
the board’s records.
B. Copying charges. The custodian shall charge the standard
copying charge established by the department.
C. Creating records.
The board shall not be required to create any document or compile data for an
individual or private entity.
D. Reasonable access.
Consistent with the Inspection of Public Records Act and taking into account
the available staff, space, and the needs of other legitimate public business,
the custodian may determine the reasonable time, place, and conditions for
access to public records.
E. Removal. Public records shall not be removed from the
board office.
[16.24.1.10 NMAC -
N, 07/01/09]
16.24.1.11 NON-PUBLIC
RECORDS: The following
records are considered confidential and are not subject to public inspection:
A. letters of
reference;
B. medical reports or
records of chemical dependency, physical or mental examinations or treatment;
C. the contents of
any examination used to test for an individual's knowledge or competence;
D. investigative
files if disclosure would impede the investigation;
E. written
communication relating to actual or potential disciplinary action, including
complaints, until the board acts or declines to act; and
F. matters of
opinion in personnel files.
[16.24.1.11 NMAC -
N, 07/01/09]
16.24.1.12 SAVINGS
CLAUSE: If any provision of
these rules or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be
held to be invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of these rules and the
application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be
affected thereby.
[16.24.1.12 NMAC -
N, 07/01/09]
HISTORY of 16.24.1 NMAC: [RESERVED]