You can’t make this stuff up – Tennessee Reins In Horse Massage Licensing Laws – Hit & Run : Reason.com

Two Tennessee women will be allowed to continue operating their horse massage businesses without the threat of fines and jail time—at least for the next 15 months—if Gov. Bill Haslam signs a bill that cleared the state legislature this week.

Who is so concerned about unlicensed horse massage?

In February, Reason brought you the story of Laurie Wheeler and Martha Stowe, two women who received cease-and-desist letters from the Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners because they were massaging horses without a license to practice veterinary medicine in the state. It didn’t matter to the board that Wheeler was licensed to give massages to humans (she was offering their services to high performance horses and equestrians in tandem), or that both women had been certified by private organizations in the practice of equine massage. All that mattered was the lack of state-issued permission slip, which meant Wheeler and Stowe had to choose between giving up their business and facing the threat of punishment.

Don’t tell me there isn’t room to cut government spending. Seems to me there should be some bureaucrats in the unemployment line.