Massachusetts Board of Registration in Veterinary Medicine, Division of Occupational Licensure

Veterinary Facility Registration — Massachusetts state position

The board's entry in the Commonwealth's consolidated fee schedule (801 CMR 4.00) contains exactly four items — application, original license, renewal and jurisprudence examination — and all four are individual, so there is no state fee for veterinary premises; the same schedule does carry a facility fee for other boards where one exists, so the gap is meaningful. What the state does instead is reach the premises through a person: a facility not owned by a licensed veterinarian must appoint a veterinary medical director, and the board reserves the right to prosecute owners who fail to do so for unlicensed practice. Minimum standards for cleanliness and safety apply at every location where veterinary medicine is practised, and using the title hospital, medical centre or emergency triggers further standards. Two adjacent registrations are likely to bite a practice and are not priced here: a controlled substances registration for the facility, and x-ray unit registration with the radiation control programme.