Unfortunately, all too many government related issues start inside the Capitol Beltway. As we all know there are three branches of government; the legislative, executive and judicial. Looking at these three branches from an animal health and veterinary practice perspective, and from past history, there is an unsettling trend in the attitudes and actions from all of them. The Congress is made up of 535 members whose background is predominately law and former business executives. Only two are veterinarians and there is only a smattering of other science disciplines among the members. There are numerous agencies within the executive branch, commonly referred to as "the administration" which has a very dramatic and often negative impact on animal agriculture. Although these agencies are staffed with scientists and veterinarians who are career employees, final decisions are made by or with the concurrence of political appointees who are motivated by political science and not biological science. From a judicial perspective, there are no judges with a scientific background and we know that no member of the Supreme Court is a scientist. So we find ourselves in a situation where more laws, regulations and policies affecting animal health are being made byofficials with no scientific training or subject matter expertise.
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