Puerto Rico begins scale inspections at veterinary clinics

Puerto Rico’s consumer regulator is turning its attention to veterinary medicine. DACO has launched inspections of scales used in veterinary clinics across the island, with the stated goal of confirming that the devices are properly calibrated and certified before they’re used in transactions or care decisions involving animal weight. The agency’s secretary, Hiram J. Torres Montalvo, said inspectors from DACO’s Weights and Measures Division will conduct the visits, alongside personnel from its compliance and commercial liaison office. (metro.pr)

The move appears to be both an enforcement action and a reset. Metro Puerto Rico reported on July 27, 2026, that DACO described the operation as one that had not been carried out in more than 20 years. That matters because Puerto Rico’s Weights and Measures framework is not new: DACO says the division was created under Law No. 145 of June 27, 1968, and is responsible for testing and inspecting devices used commercially to ensure accuracy and compliance with Puerto Rico and federal standards. DACO also says businesses that acquire scales and other weighing devices must present them for inspection before commercial use, and approved equipment receives an authorization seal. (metro.pr)

The immediate trigger is straightforward: veterinary clinics use scales in ways that can affect both care and charges. According to the local report, DACO cited Regulation 9219 as the governing rule and said scales used to determine animal weight must satisfy the requirements for commercial measuring equipment. The same report said Rule 15 calls for inspections every two years and places responsibility on each establishment to request inspection. DACO also cited market size, saying about one in three Puerto Rico households has a pet and that roughly 200 veterinary centers or clinics operate on the island. (metro.pr)

While DACO’s website pages for the weights-and-measures program and Regulation 9219 are available in search results, the underlying pages and linked PDF were not fully retrievable during this reporting. Even so, DACO’s public descriptions consistently frame its role as protecting consumers and ensuring fairness whenever a weighing or measuring device is used in commerce. That broader regulatory logic helps explain why veterinary clinics are now in scope: once a scale is used in a commercial healthcare setting, weight accuracy becomes both a clinical and consumer issue. This is an inference based on DACO’s published description of its authority and the agency’s statements reported by Metro. (daco.pr.gov)

No detailed veterinary association response or outside expert commentary was readily available in public reporting at the time of writing. Still, the agency’s own messaging suggests DACO is trying to pair enforcement with education. Metro reported that compliance personnel would accompany inspectors specifically to orient veterinary centers on equipment certification and related matters, which may signal that at least some clinics will be given a pathway to correct gaps rather than face immediate punitive action. (metro.pr)

Why it matters: For veterinarians, technicians, and practice managers, the inspection campaign lands at the intersection of medicine, operations, and trust. Weight is a foundational data point in companion animal care, shaping medication dosing, fluid therapy, anesthetic protocols, weight-management plans, and monitoring for chronic disease. If a scale is inaccurate, the problem can ripple through the medical record and the invoice. For pet parents, that raises obvious fairness concerns. For clinics, it raises compliance risk, documentation risk, and potentially liability risk if inaccurate weights contribute to treatment errors. (daco.pr.gov)

The practical takeaway is that Puerto Rico clinics may want to review scale inventories now: which devices are used for patient care, which are used in any billed or commercially relevant context, whether certification is current, and whether staff know the process for inspection requests and documentation. DACO’s posted fee schedule for weights-and-measures services shows that scale inspection and verification are established agency functions, not ad hoc enforcement. That suggests this may become a more regular expectation for veterinary facilities rather than a one-time sweep. (daco.pr.gov)

What to watch: The next signals will be whether DACO publishes formal guidance for veterinary clinics, reports inspection findings, or begins issuing notices tied to uncertified scales. It will also be worth watching whether veterinary groups on the island push for clearer implementation timelines or clinic-specific compliance education as inspections continue. (metro.pr)