SALEM — The shortage of veterinarians in rural Oregon has spurred a proposal to allow trained non-veterinarians to perform pregnancy checks on livestock and dentistry on horses.

“This is an attempt to better serve the livestock industry in the state of Oregon,” said Sen. Todd Nash, R-Enterprise, the bill’s chief sponsor.

While proponents characterize Senate Bill 976 as a common sense solution with minimal downsides, several veterinarians recently testified it would undermine their profession while posing dangers to humans and animals.

There’s a reason why veterinary education takes eight years to complete and costs about a quarter-million dollars, said Severin Knudsen, a veterinarian from Enterprise, Ore.

“The state has required this license because of the great harm that can come to both animals and your constituents by letting minimally trained people perform these tasks,” Knudsen said during a recent legislative hearing.

Supporters of the bill, including the Oregon Farm Bureau, argue that horse dentistry and livestock pregnancy checks are routine procedures that non-veterinarians can safely perform if they’re properly educated and certified.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture would establish the requirements for non-veterinarians to conduct equine dentistry and livestock pregnancy checks under SB 976.

The bill will allow farmers and ranchers to obtain needed services more easily and free veterinarians to attend to more serious or complicated animal health issues, according to proponents.

A lack of dental care can greatly harm the welfare of a horse but owners are often frustrated by their inability to book timely appointments with veterinarians, said Jenny Freeborn, a horse trainer from Rickreall, Ore.

“The current number of large animal veterinarians in the state simply cannot keep up with the demand, and equine welfare is falling through the cracks due to this shortage,” Freeborn said.

As for livestock pregnancy checks, many people are already proficient at the procedure, but the current law prohibits them from charging for their services, said Rusty Inglis, chair of the Oregon Farm Bureau’s livestock and public lands committee.

“Most have learned the skill while working on the family ranch and preg test as many as a thousand head a year and could get certified so they could legally hire out their services to support their family,” Inglis said.

Veterinarians who oppose SB 976, including representatives of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, counter that equine dentistry and livestock pregnancies checks should be conducted with a broader understanding of animal health.

“Lay people generally don’t have this knowledge or training,” said Jill Parker, a veterinarian from Philomath, Ore., who previously served as OVMA’s president.

Equine dentistry involves working with “power tools” in a horse’s mouth and thus requires drugs for sedation to which non-veterinarians shouldn’t have access, she said.

Pregnancy checks involve “rectal palpation,” or inserting an arm into a cow’s anus to feel its reproductive organs, which can injure the animal if done incorrectly, according to opponents.

These procedures also offer veterinarians an opportunity to teach ranchers about low-stress animal handling, which improves livestock health, said Shanna Sallee, a veterinarian from Hermiston, Ore.

“If veterinarians are removed from having this type of relationship, we are jeopardizing chances to educate and the welfare of the livestock industry as a whole,” she said.