2022 Annual Business Meeting Announcement

There has been a proposal to amend the EDPA Bylaws concerning the executive board Limitation of Terms. Proposal was to amend the current Limitation of Terms and replace with a No Limitation of Officer Holder Terms. Vote to be held at our 2022 Annual Business Meeting.

Current Bylaws

6.3.1 Duration of Term

Directors shall be elected to office for a term of two (2) years, or until their successors are elected and qualified to take office immediately after the next Annual Meeting.

6.3.2. Limitation of Terms

No person shall serve more than six (6) consecutive years as a director. Service for any part of a year shall be considered service for that year. No director, currently in office, may be re-elected to the same office more than once. Upon serving two (2) consecutive full or partial terms, or six (6) years whichever is the lesser, a person is ineligible to be a director for three (3) years thereafter. The immediate Past President, if he/she is not otherwise a director, may serve one additional year only.

6.3.3 Exception

If there are insufficient candidates to fill available Board positions from a given region, current directors may run for additional terms by making written request to the EDPA office, postmarked no more than seven (7) business days after the close of nominations, and be included on the ballot for re-election regardeless of the number of terms served.

Proposed Amendment

6.3.2 No limitation of Office HOlder Terms

Officers, Directors, and Board members may serve consecutive terms as elected by the membership.

6.3.3 Complete removal of this subsection of 6.3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3.3.2 Ammendment of Bylaws

The Executive Board has the power to Amend the Bylaws provided:

a) The Bylaws may not be amended more than one time per fiscal year;

b) Proposed changes to the Bylaws shall be set out and along with the complete proposed Bylaws as amended shall be posted to the EDPA website and sent electronically to all voting members. Print copies may be requested by a member for posting by regular mail;

c) Proposed amended Bylaws shall be posted as noted above for review and comment for no less than ninety (90) days before they may be adopted;

d) A petition opposing all or portions of the proposed amendments which is signed or electronically signed by twenty percent (20%) of voting members will cause the Executive Board to call for a Special Meeting of the Members for a membership vote on the proposed amendments to the Bylaws. A conference call method of attending in person, telephonically or other real time electronic connection will be required for the amendments to be approved for adoption. Changes to the proposed amended Bylaws made during the Special Meeting do not need any further posting for comment but may be adopted as passed at the Special Meeting.

updated 7/5/22

"Pre-Competition Oral Findings in Danish Sport Horses and Ponies Competing at High Level"

 by 

Mette Uldahl , Louise Bundgaard, Jan Dahl and Hilary M. Clayton. Article published in MDPI.

Gone but Not Forgotten
In Memory of:
Dr. Richard Miller and 
Steve Rubin

EDPA Certification:

The EDPA Certification is a process to access the skills and judgement of the “Equine Dental Provider” in order to insure competency to identify and address equine dental needs and; To Do No Harm.

FACTS- Legislation, Lobbying, Carl Mitz, ......

It is has come to our attention that the IAED is asking for support and donations to lobby on behalf of the IAED and equine dental providers to change legislation. According to a recent post on Facebook by Josh Wallace, President of the IAED, an explanation of the process and past changes made through legislation for equine dental providers was provided.  However, his interpretation of that process and changes are incorrect.

The TBVME and the State of Texas filed a lawsuit against Carl Mitz for practicing veterinary medicine without a license. At that time, he was on the board of the IAED. Carl Mitz was represented by the Institute for Justice in Mitz vs The State of Texas.  The IAED was NOT named in the lawsuit, the Institute for Justice did NOT represent the IAED.

Carl Mitz defended his right to earn a living by getting representation, expert witnesses and organize a tough defense with horse owners, professional trainers, veterinarians, business owners and politicians ( who owned horses that were his clients). It cost thousands of dollars to gather the information and support. Carl Mitz raised on his own over $15,000 to defend the right for an equine dental provider to earn a living and become a recognized "licensed" profession in the State of Texas. Carl Mitz is the one who fought for and accepted the legislation that would determine his professional career all the way to the Supreme Court.

When Carl and the Institute for Justice won his case against the TBVME and the State of Texas, it helped change legislation and added the profession of an equine dental provider to the law books. IAED was the benefactor at that time, as Carl Mitz was able to get the IAED written into the law. Since then, the law has been changed and allows not just the IAED, but any other approved organization by the TBVME as a certifying entity.

When the IAED decided to change certification and their ways of conducting business, Carl Mitz resigned from his position and involvement with the organization in its entirety.

In 2012, Carl Mitz and 3 other certified EDPs and previous IAED members, founded the Equine Dental Providers of America (EDPA) which is a TBVME Certifying Entity. The EDPA also offers Continuing Education programs approved by the TBVME and RACE. The EDPA is a 501 (c) 3 that DOES NOT lobby for or against any legislation. The EDPA is a member run organization to certify and offer CE to the industry, encourage horse owners, providers and veterinarians a common ground and reliable, experienced information about equine dentistry for the betterment of the horse.

The EDPA does apply for State approvals as certifying entity in order to help more equine dental providers become legal to practice and earn a living in their specialty. It is up to the citizens of the States to push for legislation, seek assistance and lobby their politicians to change the laws in their own States. The EDPA will provide facts and information regarding the EDPA, its members and its Certification requirements to help these providers wanting to make changes, but that is it. We do not provide funding or push our membership for donations to fund lobbying. The battle has been won in Texas. The model has been made. The other States have guidelines or an outline to implement that is working and has been fought through the Supreme Court.   

So, if you are in support of the legislation changes that Carl Mitz accomplished and you want to be a part of a legal entity that conducts business in congruence with the laws, we invite you to join the EDPA and put your financial investment in an organization that is committed to the best interest of the horse and horse owner as well as the equine dental profession.  

EDPA

Carl Mitz, President

www.EDPAonline.org

FACT........

At this time it is illegal in every state for a non-vet edp to provide sedation to a client horse. The sedation is between the horse owner and the veterinarian responsible for the health care of that horse.