Lisa Speaker, the co-founder of CAAMB, has been busy working since last
summer establishing the Colorado Alliance of Animal Owners Rights (CAAOR). Lisa,
the President of CAAOR, along with board members Carol Komitor, Turie Norman,
and Nancy Zidonis are working with Colorado State Representative, District 64,
Wes McKinley to pass legislation to protect the rights of owners to choose
therapeutic alternatives (and our right to practice on animals whether a vet is
in the room or not). Rep. McKinley is the Vice-Chairman of the Agriculture,
Livestock and Natural Resources Committee. As of February 28, the bill passed
the House of Representatives and is now going on to the Colorado State Senate
for consideration.
Since this is a very important issue that affects our ability to earn a living
working on animals, Lisa will speak to our group on Tuesday, March 13, 2007, 7 pm at
Canine Rehabilitation & Conditioning Group (CRCG). Come learn how you
can support the legislation currently being voted on in the Colorado legislature
that will protect animal owners' freedom of choice. Lisa's talk at our meeting is also open to
others who may be interested in this topic such as concerned pet owners and
other types of animal practitioners. Please RSVP if you plan to attend to
Margaret@OptimumChoices.com.
Come to this meeting to learn how to preserve our right to practice on animals.
To learn more about CAAOR, please visit the website at:
www.caaor.org. Also, there is
a Yahoo Group for the organization here:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CAAOR.
CRCG is located at 3760 South Lipan Street, Englewood, CO 80110. See
www.dog-swim.com for
more info.
Referrals
CAAMB maintains a referral list of animal massage, bodywork and energywork
practitioners in the front range area of Colorado. For more information, click
on the Members button to the left. If you are a member and don't see your
information listed or it needs updating/correcting,
click
here to contact Margaret Auld-Louie.
We have formed a Yahoo Group called COAAMB for members to communicate with each other.
Meeting information will also be available on the group calendar. Please join
our group if you are a professional, student or teacher practicing animal
massage, bodywork or energywork. The Yahoo Group is COAAMB because the "CAAMB"
name was already taken on Yahoo.
Legislative Issues
If you thought our right to practice animal massage & bodywork in Colorado
was safe, think again. The Colorado Humane Society issued the following
statement for their "animal wellness fair":
Positioning Statement for Wags to Whiskers Animal Wellness Fair
Saturday, October 28th 2006
Denver Merchandise Mart
9:00 am to 4:00
"The mission of the Wags to Whiskers Animal Wellness Fair is to provide the best
available health care information and education to the public. Vendors,
speakers, and/or volunteers who are not licensed veterinarians must refrain from
advising the public and practicing veterinary medicine (as defined in the
Colorado Veterinary Practice Act) at the event. Examples of services that
non-veterinarians will not be allowed to promote at Wags to Whiskers includes,
but is not limited to, the following: all forms of holistic medicine, including
acupuncture, herbal and/or Bach flower remedies, massage, chiropractic care and
dental work."
Anyone interested in working on legislative issues in Colorado relating to our profession
should e-mail
Lisa Speaker or Margaret Auld-Louie.
Past meetings & events
The
winter 2007 meeting was held at
Hounds on the Hill
Doggie Daycare, January 15, 2007 with CAAMB members Terri Desnica and Janice
Mann speaking on Understanding Canine Behavior for Bodyworkers.
The fall 2006 meeting was held on September 19th, 2006. CAAMB member
Beth Pelosa presented a talk on equine aromatherapy (essential oil use with
horses) at her barn in Longmont, CO. Beth has instructed for Tallgrass Animal Acupressure and
is an IAAMB member.
CAAMB offered canine massage at the USDAA South
Central Regional Championships in Englewood, Colorado, on July 1-3, 2006.
Members attended the 3rd annual conference of the International Association of
Animal Massage & Bodywork at the Millenium Harvest House in
Boulder, Colorado on June 15, 16 & 17, 2006. The Pre-Conference
Workshop on Business Practices and Laws, Lobbying & Legislation was held June 13 and 14.
The spring 2006 meeting was a workshop on canine first aid
Sunday, May 14 from 1 pm - 5 pm at
Hounds on the Hill
dog daycare, 960 Lincoln St. Denver, Colorado. The
instructor was Jeanne Nixon, breeder of Rhodesian Ridgebacks and owner of Gold'n
Paws natural pet supply store in Golden.
The winter 2006 meeting was held on February 7, 2006, at Hounds
on the Hill doggie daycare in Denver, which is owned by member Terri Desnica. Members exchanged
intake forms.
The fall 2005 meeting was held on November 1, 2005, at Panera Bread in Arvada.
Nancy Zidonis & Amy Snow spoke on "How to build a successful animal bodywork
business".
The first meeting was held on August 16th, 2005 at the Canine Rehabilitation and
Conditioning Group in Englewood, CO. Margaret Auld-Louie spoke on common canine
structural imbalances.
Join CAAMB
Lisa Speaker of Dogma
and Margaret Auld-Louie of Optimum Choices are developing a local chapter of the
International Association of Animal Massage and Bodywork
(IAAMB). This is a Colorado state organization that meets quarterly to network,
mentor, discuss and affect state legislation and to work on advancing
credibility for our professions. We hope all professional Colorado Animal Body
Workers will join us! We plan to have a member talk at each meeting
on an educational topic relating to our profession or on marketing/building our
businesses. We are calling this new organization CAAMB - Colorado Association of
Animal Massage and Bodywork. If you are interested in becoming a member, please fill out the form
below and we will contact you as soon as possible.
Colorado Association of Animal Massage & Bodywork
