Laymen and Veterinary medical practice

Some unscrupulous laymen may practice Veterinary Medicine without a license, especially with the relative anonymity of the Internet.  There are several issues relating to the dangers of illegal medical diagnosis & recommendations:

• State laws on Veterinary Medicine Practice
   
• Christian prohibitions against animal psychics
   
• Reporting horse psychic criminal activities

Horse Psychics Practicing Veterinary Medicine

The horse psychic who practices medicine is especially dangerous because of the large numbers of miniature horses owners who view the horse psychic as an alternative or complement to medically recognized miniature horse treatment. 

In the more serious cases, a horse psychic may recommend withholding medical treatment or recommend having a horse euthanized, claiming that the horse does not wish to undergo the pain, or that the horse does not desire a life-saving surgical procedure.

This horse psychic claims to be an "Equine Holistic Practitioner"  and charges $100 per hour to develop a treatment plan for horses with health problems.  The treatments include "blessing" structures and using the positive energy of crystals:

"This holistic consultation may include: Reiki healing through touch, (a simple but powerful method for balancing the body, mind, spirit, and emotions), and Native American Customs to cleanse and bless the structures, and plant/tree life.

The Asian practice of Feng Shui may be integrated to balance positive/negative energy in barns, stables, outbuildings, or to restore a balance of positive energy to areas with deficits.

All natural Homeopathic Flower Essences, known as remedies, may be indicated for your horse. This is a liquid blend that is administered through feed, water, or and/or by rubbing on your horse’s muzzle.

Crystals may be placed to attract positive energy or break up negative energy to maintain a relaxed and balanced environment within the barn, stable, and outbuildings."

This horse psychic insinuates that their "Plan of Care" is an option for treatment and prescribes over-the-counter remedies for horse problems:

"The Plan of Care will include detailed instructions, a Recommended Resource List for obtaining products, as needed, through company websites and/or toll free telephone numbers.

I use and recommend only the purest quality and highest energy vibration products."

According to this New Hampshire Television site a horse psychic charged money to Kim Townsend to diagnose an equine medical problem.  In this case, Townsend says that she utilized the horse psychic in lieu of a medical X-ray:

"At Townsend Training Farm in Pembroke, Kim Townsend sensed an issue with her horse Moe. She sought out animal communicator Bonnie Fogg.

Fogg does a reading on Moe by moving her hand above his body. Wherever Fogg feels heat radiating, it signifies pain or the problem area. Readings are $40 a session.

Townsend uses this method because it's a quick diagnosis. Otherwise she'd have to wait for X-rays to figure out what could be wrong."

Note that New Hampshire Law prohibits the diagnosis and treatment of mental conditions, a common practice among horse psychics. 

Horse psychics may commit serious crimes when they charge horse owners money to diagnose or advise about medical and mental health issues.  The miniature horses are at risk because horse psychics sometimes advise the owner if their horse wants to receive life-saving medical treatment.

To illustrate, these are verbatim excerpts from a miniature horse message board where the horse psychic appears to provide a medical diagnosis to a believing miniature horse owner (emphasis added):

"The talk with Bonnie was very interesting. She saw something in his large intestine.

She saw some other things, but the main thing I wanted to ask was if Sammy was ready to go. Bonnie asked him, and his response was that if he can't play, he doesn't want to be here. Well, this colt LOVES to play. I can understand that. But she also said that at the moment when she asked him, he said that he felt he could beat this thing.

So, I interpreted that as, no surgery, and my husband and I discussed putting him down."

Among the horse psychic community, some horse psychics appear to openly practice veterinary medicine without a license, as noted on their testimonials web page:

"My stallion has been acting a little spooky lately and she told me that he was sore on his right shoulder and foot."

"Well Bonnie knew that there was a problem with this cat's gums, knew that an allergy caused her toes to itch. She said that there was a stone type thing possibly in her bladder that could be causing the problem."
 

In this great link titled "Idjt Alert", Mr. Ayche comments about an Ohio horse psychic named Straka:

There's nothing odd about walking a horse or talking to a horse, but what if you were told the horse is also talking? Run away! Run away!
 . . .
Straka said she's been given a gift -- a telepathic ability to communicate with animals... just like Son of Sam...
. . .
Straka said animals do not have souls but they have plenty of spirit. It's suspected she's had plenty of that herself.

In this noted court case of the Park Murders, author Barbara Nordin notes the defense use of a horse psychic who recommend that detectives interview a dog who may be a material witness:

In fact, the defense charges, the girlfriend-- "a professional animal communicator and horse whisperer"-- only dreamt she heard screams.

"According to her statements to authorities," the defense asserts, "she then left her body and astrally projected above the mountains and saw the murder scene. In the following months she went into dream states to 'collect data' about the murders. She referred the investigators to a fellow animal communicator and suggested that Taj, [Lollie's] dog, be interviewed."
 

USA Miniature Horse is a non-profit web site dedicated to collecting useful information about miniature horses in the United States.