Authority: IC 4-31-3-9

Affected: IC 4-31

Sec. 1. (a) The official veterinarian (equine medical director) shall:

1. (1) be employed by the commission;
2. (2) be a graduate veterinarian and be licensed to practice in Indiana;

3. (3) recommend to the judges:

   1. (A) any horse deemed unsafe to be raced; or
   2. (B) a horse that it would be inhumane to allow to race;
4. (4) place horses on the veterinarian's list, when necessary, and remove from the list those horses which are, in the official veterinarian's opinion, able to satisfactorily compete in a race;
5. (5) supervise the taking of all specimens for testing according to procedures approved by the commission;
6. (6) provide proper safeguards in the handling of all laboratory specimens to prevent tampering, confusion, or contamination;
7. (7) have authority and jurisdiction over the racing veterinarian and the practicing veterinarians within the enclosure for the purpose of these rules;
8. (8) report to the commission the names of all horses humanely destroyed or which otherwise expire at the meeting and the reasons therefore;
9. (9) refuse employment or payment, directly or indirectly, from any horse owner or trainer of a horse racing or intending to race in this jurisdiction while employed as the official veterinarian for the commission, except in accordance with the commission policy on endoscopic examinations;
10. (10) review and make recommendations regarding commission license applications of practicing veterinarians;
11. (11) perform, in accordance with commission policy, endoscopic examinations at the request of a horse owner or trainer; and [sic]

(b) The official veterinarian or the executive director may delegate or assign duties to the racing veterinarian.

(c) At the discretion of the commission or the executive director, veterinary technicians certified by the state of Indiana board of veterinary medical examiners may be assigned to perform the duties and responsibilities of the official veterinarian under these rules except that no certified veterinary technician so assigned shall be permitted or required to perform procedures that are outside the scope of their certification by the Indiana board of veterinary medical examiners, including, but not limited to, endoscopic examinations.

(Indiana Horse Racing Commission; 71 IAC 3-12-1; emergency rule filed Feb 10, 1994, 9:20 a.m.: 17 IR 1132; emergency rule filed Aug 10, 1994, 3:30 p.m.: 17 IR 2904; emergency rule filed Jan 27, 1995, 3:30 p.m.: 18 IR 1496; emergency rule filed Jun 15, 1995, 5:00 p.m.: 18 IR 2826, eff Jul 1, 1995; readopted filed Oct 30, 2001, 11:50 a.m.: 25 IR 899; readopted filed Mar 23, 2007, 11:31 a.m.: 20070404-IR-071070030RFA; emergency rule filed Aug 21, 2007, 1:33 p.m.: 20070829-IR-071070543ERA; emergency rule filed Mar 3, 2011, 11:50 a.m.: 20110309-IR-071110100ERA; readopted filed Nov 26, 2013, 11:25 a.m.: 20131225-IR-071130345RFA; readopted filed Aug 28, 2019, 1:23 p.m.: 20190925-IR-071190319RFA; readopted filed Aug 3, 2023, 12:49 p.m.: 20230830-IR- 071230428RFA; readopted filed Sep 18, 2024, 12:40 p.m.: 20241016-IR-071230796RFA)