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Women win case over right to run dog massage business

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A legal victory for three Arizona women. All they wanted to do was provide animal massages, but a one state agency put the brakes on that, until this week.

A little to the right, a little to the left -- Grace Granatelli of Scottsdale loves putting those magic hands to good use on her 2-year-old beagle mix, Sketch.

But before Tuesday of this week, if she did the same thing to your dog and got paid for it, she could have gone to jail.

"I've turned away a lot of people," Granatelli explained. "I've had a lot of people ask me to work on their dogs, saying that their dog was ailing and I've had to turn everyone away."

That's because she got a cease and desist letter from the state's Veterinary Medical Examining Board, claiming she was violating a state law.

To provide her massage services, she was told she needed a veterinary license, even though she was already certified in animal massage.

"I felt like they were abusing their power as a bureaucratic entity," she explained.

But that was the board's interpretation of the law, until now.

After a judge's ruling this week, the board agreed to relax the laws when it comes to animal massage.

So Grace is back open for business - and apparently is getting rave reviews from her clients.

"I've had dogs snore. I've had dogs lick me while I'm doing ir or their tails wag."

ABC15 did reach out to the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board for comment. So far, we have not heard back.

If you'd like to see the judge's ruling, click HERE.

If you'd like more information about Grace Granatelli and her business, Pawsitive Touch Therapy, click HERE.