J Greg Byrne
John Greg Byrne is a two-time Doug Ducey appointee, first in 2015 to replace veterinarian James Christensen and subsequently reappointed in 2019. He obtained his veterinary degree from Colorado State and has focused on equine medicine. He was an associate veterinarian with Veterinary Services PC, official show veterinarian for multiple horse shows including for the Arabian Horse Association, and owner-operator of "Equine Ambulatory Practice" which may or may not be the same as his Equine Veterinary Services PLC (link). He's also involved with the Verde Vaqueros (since 2011) and the Sheriff's Mounted Posse of Maricopa County.
Byrne's 2016 appearance before a Senate committee happened in the middle of the Westworld horse show, as Byrne apparently needed to get back there. The senators assisted in his return by not bothering to ask him any questions and quickly approved his nomination once the remainder of the committee could be rounded up from the hallway. One senator, Miranda, initially wanted to vote present or pass and drew a look of surprise from the committee chair; she subsequently voted "aye" along with the rest of the committee but said she would like to talk to Byrne sometime. Such is what passes for advice and consent from Arizona's highest deliberative body.
Arizona Corporation Commission search results list a Wayne R. Anderson as a director for the Verde Vaqueros from 2013 to 2019. Whether this is the same Wayne R. Anderson who was a former Arizona Veterinary Medical Association president (serving along subsequent state veterinary board chair Brian Serbin) and subsequent CEO of the AZPetVet veterinary hospital chain has not been confirmed. We don't know if Anderson and Byrne ever met there or had the chance to "treat themselves to nearly a week of sociability and camaraderie in which they forget the stresses and tensions of business" but the memberships would have overlapped according to Byrne's executive summary before the senate. Byrne eventually made Director at the Verde Vaqueros himself.
Equine Veterinary Services PLC's Facebook page has a June 2, 2015 post congratulating "Dr. Greg Byrne on your appointment by Governor Douglas Ducey to The Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board!" The post includes a photo of the letter from Ducey's office, stating that "[o]ne of the satisfactions of holding office is the opportunity to recognize outstanding citizens by naming them to positions of leadership within our state government." The letter subsequently reminds Byrne to obtain three signed notarized copies of the Loyalty Oath and return them to Ryan Peters with the Governor's Office of Boards and Commissions.
Byrne was one of the lucky defendants in a lawsuit brought by horse-massagers Celeste Kelly, Grace Granatelli, Stacey Kollman, and the Institute for Justice. The state veterinary board had decreed that only licensed veterinarians could massage horses in Arizona and fought the matter in courts for years.
Voting Summary
J Greg Byrne voted to dismiss about 79.9% of complaints in our Tails of Woe.
We've tallied up J Greg Byrne's votes during the time covered by our public records requests. Of the cases we have, J Greg Byrne voted in 399 cases. Of those, J Greg Byrne voted in favor of at least one motion containing the word "dismiss" in 319 of them.
Below we've included J Greg Byrne's vote breakdowns for up to ten of the most common motions. We also have a detailed list of votes and their associated complaints available in the Voting History.
| Motion | Aye | Nay | Recused | Absent | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dismiss with no violation | 269 | 2 | 0 | 191 | 462 |
| Schedule informal interview | 55 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 94 |
| Offer consent agreement | 45 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 81 |
| Find violation | 24 | 6 | 0 | 40 | 70 |
| Dismiss with no violation and issue letter of concern | 27 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 42 |
| Issue board order | 12 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 34 |
| Accept consent agreement | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Disagree and dismiss with no violation | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| Disagree and dismiss with no violation and issue letter of concern | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Issue letter of concern | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 13 |
Archival Content
Additional archival content for J Greg Byrne is posted below and hosted at the Internet Archive.
| Corporate Record | Verde Vaqueros Annual Report (Arizona Corporation Commission) (2021) |
| Executive Summary | J Greg Byrne Executive Appointment Summary (Legislative Session 522R) |
| Executive Summary | J Greg Byrne Executive Appointment Summary (Legislative Session 542R) |
| Senate Nomination Hearing | J Greg Byrne Senate Nomination Hearing (Legislative Session 522R) |