Exercising / Walking Small Animal Patients
VTH Policy # PtHand905
Implementation Date: 3/18/2010 |
Date of Last Revision: 2/9/2017 |
Next Review Due: 3/2023 |
Reviewed by VTH Administrative Team: 2/14/2020 |
Reviewed by VTH Board: 3/18/2010; 1/26/2017 |
Reviewed by Legal Counsel: N/A |
Reviewed by Biosecurity Subcommittee: N/A |
Subject to modification by the VTH Director without approval.
Policy
Exercising/walking client owned small animals is prohibited outside of designated fenced areas.
Guidelines
To help prevent the possibility of a client’s animal from getting loose, patients may not be walked or otherwise taken outside of the designated fenced areas by college faculty, staff or students unless the client is present or except when medically indicated and owner authorization has been documented.
Procedure (if applicable)
Patients are to be exercised/walked on a leash in any of the fenced-in walk areas of the VTH.
Patient is to be on a leash while exercising/walking.
**If medically indicated for the patient to be walked outside of the fenced-in walk areas, the following procedure must be followed.
- Owner consent must be acquired and documented in the Health Information System.
a. Telephone authorization may be obtained when a client is no longer in the building. The clinician must obtain the owner’s verbal permission and understanding of the procedure and document within the Health Information System. - Patients walked outside of the fenced-in walk areas must be double-leashed.
- Patient must be accompanied by two people while out of the fenced-in walk areas.
Definitions (if applicable)
Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH): The collective clinical services of the Large Animal Clinic, Midwest Equine, the Small Animal Clinic, and the Veterinary Medicine South Clinic.