Thayer Hendrickson, DVM September 2, 1913 - April 4, 2010

The Arkansas VMA is saddened by the loss of its oldest member. Dr. Thayer Hendrickson passed away on April 4, 2010. He has been a member of the Association since 1946. He received Veterinarian of The Year in 1961. In 2007, Dr. Hendrickson was awarded an Outstanding Service Award for his time and support of the Association. He was the biggest supporter of the veterinary profession, along with many other charities and civic organizations. He will be greatly missed. The services for Dr. Thayer Hendrickson are as follows: Visitation, Thursday 6pm-8pm in Greenbier at Roller McNutt Funeral Home Service, Friday 11am Greenbrier United Methodist Church

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Health Department Clarification of Act 159

The Arkansas Department of Health is offering further clarification of Act 159 for Arkansas citizens concerned about vaccination of their dogs and cats. Act 159, an act to modernize Arkansas’s rabies control and to empower the State Board of Health to establish reasonable vaccination requirements against rabies, was signed by Governor Beebe on February 16th. This act updates the Rabies Control Act removing extensive obsolete sections. The main change of interest to citizens is the interval for rabies vaccinations for dogs and cats. The old act required rabies vaccines to be given yearly. The new act requires “All dogs and cats shall be vaccinated against rabies annually or as required by the State Board of Health.” The Administrative Procedures Act for changing rules and regulations established by the State Board of Health will take some time. Until these rules and regulations are changed, the requirement will remain for dogs and cats to receive their rabies vaccinations annually.

President's Letter

March 2010

Greetings Arkansas Veterinarians: Attention Earthlings, This is Your Leader Speaking: To Whom It May Concern: Oh Heck, How all you Saints fans doin?

I am now your President, for better or worse, sickness or health, richer or poorer for all the days of this year. As you can see, I am gonna be taking a relaxed attitude. I do respect the office of President of Arkansas Veterinary Medical Association, but I will try to have fun…. Or as the hip kids say these days, make it real. I still don’t know what that means, but lets run with it.

I’m writing this letter on a beautiful spring morning, at the base of the Big Damn Bridge, waiting on a group to ride my bike. I just had my first crawfish boil of the year this Sunday. Ca C’est Bon, Cher! I’m in a good springtime mood, if you didn’t figure that out. With spring comes new hopes. To quote Cecil Alexander, “All creatures Great & Small, All Things Bright & Beautiful, All Things Wise & Wonderful, the Lord God Made Them All.”

Spring also reminds us of new issues, new accomplishments and new developments on old issues. The major issues before our Association are: The veterinary sales tax issue, the veterinary technology school in Beebe, and how the smart new graduates make this old fart feel (OK, just checking to see if you’re paying attention). On the sales tax issue, our “public comment meeting” with Mr. Theiss was a grand slam. There were varied opinions, most of which were presented in a polite and courteous manner and the game clincher was Dr. Thames very professional presentation. I think his message, centered around the idea that being governed by the board of veterinary medicine in all that we do, we consider prescribing veterinary drugs as an extension of our veterinary practices. Mr. Theiss gave undivided attention and the result is that they are rewriting the proposed rules. Dr. David Blount will continue to be our contact for this issue. On the veterinary technology program, ASU-Beebe is giving a great effort and will need out continued support. They need us to send students, fill in as guest lectors and employ the graduates to improve the quality of veterinary medicine and the quality of life for the veterinarians in this state. Dr. Damain Stroderd is putting together a good list of speakers for next year’s ArVMA Winter Meeting.

Oh yeah, I forgot my resume, vitae, bio….Here’s the deal. I’m Cajun. Graduated from LSU and I’m the smartest man in the world. I married a woman smarter than me (Sonya) and have the sense to admit it. I have a daughter, Jessica, a senior at Mount Saint Mary’s girls school. She is planning on attending Hendrix. Zachary, my son, is a freshman at Catholic High School for Boys. He plans on graduating.

Thank you for being a member, thank you for reading my life story and if you liked the winter meeting, I did it. If you didn’t, call Maggie. Hope everyone has a good Spring and take time to smell the roses and enjoy the important things in life.

Thank You,
René LaVergne, DVM
President

Executive Director's Message

March 2010

Dr. René LaVergne put together a great Winter Meeting. We had a wonderful attendance and all the speakers were fabulous. Thank you Dr. LaVergne for putting together an outstanding meeting. Dr. Marilyn Baeyens was named 2009 Veterinarian of The Year. An honor well deserved! Congratulations to you Dr. Baeyens!!

I would like to personally thank Dr. David Blount for his leadership over the past year. I know it was a difficult year personally and a hard year serving as President with all the legislative issues that came up. It was a pleasure to work with Dr. Blount and he definitely made my job a lot easier. You are a strong man, an exceptional leader and I am most proud to call you my friend! You are definitely an asset to our Association and the entire veterinary profession.

The Association continues to monitor the Sales Tax issue. Please take time to read the enclosed article. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I will try my best to answer. If I don’t have the answer, I will definitely find it. Please remember this is a timely process. If has to go through many processes before it goes into effect, so please be patient as we work through this together.

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please call or e-mail me.

Fondly,
Maggie Milligan