March 15, 2007
Rep. Brian Sullivan
Regarding HB 1158: Animal Massage Practitioner Certification
Dear Representative Sullivan,
My name is Vaughn Brown. I am currently a senior at the Washington State School for the Blind and certified in equine therapeutic and sports massage. I want to thank you for sponsoring HB 1158. Animal massage and human massage requirements were successfully separated in the Senate. There are several concerns however regarding the regulation of hours for formal training and certification.
The original animal massage certification requirements stated that the practitioner must be trained in human massage for 500 hours and animal massage for 100 hours. Once the human massage requirement was removed the 100hours remained. However, a director of the only school in Washington, Northwest School of Animal Massage inserted 300 hours. This is a cause for multiple concerns.
The first concern is that the insertion of 300 hours is a conflict of interest. The State of Washington should be aligned with other states and not to a specific school’s training program. There are practitioners who did not or cannot attend Lola Michelin’s school of animal massage. By having 300 hours Washington would be the only State requiring such an amount.
Those who train from out of state schools or programs are unable to meet the 300 hour requirement. Other schools offer anywhere from 20 to 250 hours. I believe that in order to be better aligned with other states the requirement should be 150 hours. Students may travel to a closer school in another State such as one in Oregon or Montana to save distance, cost and the curriculum may better suit their specific interest. The bill states that out of state curriculum will be accepted. This is impossible as no other state requires or offers 300 hours of training.
Some of the material is not needed in animal massage such as first aid. This is out of the field of massage purposes and should be dealt by a veterinarian. Anatomy, massage techniques, contraindication etc can easily be taught in 150 hours. Many massage practitioners attend schools in other states, study these elements of massage and return to Washington hoping to practice their craft. However, if the 300 hours is required they would be unable to practice.
As you can see, reducing the hours to 150 would be more supportive of individuals wanting to practice animal massage in Washington. It is a more reasonable amount of hours and easily obtainable from formal programs or schools from other states. I hope you will champion this improvement to HB 1158 for the interest of Washington individuals practicing animal massage therapy.
Thank you for your time and efforts for sponsoring this bill certifying animal massage practitioners. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Vaughn Brown
Certified Equine therapeutic and sports massage therapist |