GOVERNMENT is being accused of needless political interference after ignoring the recommendations of island vets when putting forward legislation to modernise veterinary regulations.

The Veterinary Practitioners Act 2008 was tabled in the House of Assembly in February and is due to be debated in this session of Parliament.

The legislation ¿ which sets out qualification standards that veterinarians must reach before being granted a licence to practise in Bermuda ¿ was drafted by a number of experienced island vets, who then forwarded the draft to Government for final approval.

But before tabling the Bill, Government amended the legislation, ruling that graduates from Caricom countries should be eligible to practise on the island. The last-minute change angered vets who pointed out that many Caricom courses failed to set high standards of practice.

Despite pleas by the Bermuda Veterinary Association, Government yesterday confirmed that it has no plan to rewrite the draft in order to strike Caricom countries off the list of accredited colleges.

An Environment Ministry spokesman said: "The Vets Act will allow the Veterinary Council to license a vet to practise in Bermuda who meets the standards set by the Act. The vet will have to apply and detail their qualifications, and the Council will make their decision based upon those qualifications and the standards set by the Act.

"The reasons for the inclusion of Caricom were detailed and debated when the Act was approved in the House of Assembly. There is no intent to amend the Act at this time and the Act will be considered in the Senate during this term."

Last night Bermuda Veterinary Association president Dr. Andrew Madeiros expressed anger at the announcement and accused Government of ignoring the advice of experts for the sake of political gain.

He said it could lead to underqualified vets being allowed to practise in Bermuda which "could impact care and standards".

"This now opens the door for anyone who wants to be a vet to just walk in and expect to be hired, even though their qualifications are not up to standard.

"We are talking about standards here and what this does is lower the bar. It could be problematic ¿ and what is wrong with the system that we have at the moment? It appears that Government has jumped in, hijacked this particular section and enforced their own agenda."

Dr. Madeiros said that current legislation set high standards without being rigid, allowing vets to train in a number of jurisdictions including the US, Canada and the UK.

However, practitioners were concerned that some veterinary courses in the Caribbean were currently short of Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons standards. Standards of treatment are also generally much higher here compared to Caricom countries.

"I wouldn't tell Dr. Ewart Brown how to run his practice, I wouldn't tell a lawyer how to run his practice ¿ this is so needless," Dr. Madeiros said.

"Where is the pressure coming from? It might look great politically but it could be horrific. Students who qualify from non-accredited colleges in the Caribbean coming here and demanding a job are being set up to fail."