Cal. BPC § 4826

This is the official text of Cal. BPC § 4826, part of California’s Business and Professions Code — regulates business practices and professional/occupational licensing - contractors, doctors, cosmetologists, real estate agents, and dozens of other licensed professions.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

A person practices veterinary medicine, surgery, and dentistry, and the various branches thereof, when the person does any one of the following:

(a) Represents oneself as engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine, veterinary surgery, or veterinary dentistry in any of its branches.

(b) Diagnoses or prescribes a drug, medicine, appliance, application, or treatment of whatever nature for the prevention, cure, or relief of a wound, fracture, bodily injury, or disease of animals.

(c) Administers a drug, medicine, appliance, application, or treatment of whatever nature for the prevention, cure, or relief of a wound, fracture, bodily injury, or disease of animals, except where the medicine, appliance, application, or treatment is administered by a registered veterinary technician or a veterinary assistant at the direction of and under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian subject to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 4836) or where the drug, including, but not limited to, a drug that is a controlled substance, is administered by a registered veterinary technician or a veterinary assistant pursuant to Section 4836.1. However, no person, other than a licensed veterinarian, may induce anesthesia unless authorized by regulation of the board.

(d) Performs a surgical or dental operation upon an animal.

(e) Performs a tendonectomy, onychectomy, or any type of claw removal on a feline.

(f) Performs any manual procedure for the diagnosis of pregnancy, sterility, or infertility upon livestock or Equidae.

(g) Collects blood from an animal for the purpose of transferring or selling that blood and blood component products to a licensed veterinarian at a registered premises, except where the blood is collected by a registered veterinary technician or veterinary assistant at the direction of, and under the direct supervision of, a licensed veterinarian subject to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 4836) or where the blood is collected by a registered veterinary technician or a veterinary assistant pursuant to Section 4836.5. For purposes of this section, “blood and blood component products” has the same meaning as defined in Section 4920.

(h) Uses any words, letters, or titles in such connection or under such circumstances as to induce the belief that the person using them is engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine, veterinary surgery, or veterinary dentistry. This use shall be prima facie evidence of the intention to represent oneself as engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine, veterinary surgery, or veterinary dentistry.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.