Legal Information

Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 – All treatment of animals is regulated under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. Under this act, it is illegal for any person to treat an animal unless they are a registered veterinary surgeon or a paraprofessional covered by the Veterinary Surgery (Exemptions) Order 2015. Animal Chiropractors are considered ‘paraprofessionals’ and will work under veterinary consent or referral.

Chiropractors Act 1994 – The title of ‘Chiropractor’ is a legally protected term and solely refers to a person who treats humans with chiropractic techniques. Chiropractors are independently regulated by the General Chiropractic Council for human treatment, but this independent regulation does not extend to the treatment of animals.

Although the title ‘Chiropractor’ is protected, when this word is prefixed (for example with ‘animal’, ‘equine’ or ‘canine’), then the title is NOT protected. There are now a number of practitioners using the term Animal Chiropractor, however this does not imply that they are also regulated to treat humans.

Animal chiropractic treatment is not currently independently regulated, however RAMP and MAA operate self-regulatory models whereby our members are subject to professional standards and code of ethics.

The use of the word McTimoney to describe the animal treatment DOES NOT imply that practitioners are human chiropractors.