Suki's Safe Haven is exactly what it sounds like - a safe place for victims of veterinary incompetence, negligence, and abuse to obtain information about this disturbing but important subject. It's a companion site to The Veterinary Abuse Network, which grew out of a site founded in 2000 in memory of Suki the Cat, REPEATEDLY MISTREATED BY EDWARD J NICHOLS DVM, CRESTWAY ANIMAL CLINIC, San Antonio, and to alert the public of serious flaws in state board systems that routinely look the other way to protect the vets - and not our pets. You'll find original posts and articles as well as links to victims' stories, resources, other sites and blogs, and media coverage from all over the net. We'll also cover First Amendment issues for those of us who have been sued by the very veterinarians who mistreated our pets and then used the legal system in an attempt to silence us.

We will never forget. We will never be silenced.

This is an independent consumer advocacy blog and not associated with any government agency in any way.

April 26, 2012

Think There Are No Cruel Vets? PETA Exposes Texas Vet Gene F. Giggleman, DVM, and His Smashing Squirrels Video -- and What You Can Do


Credit: scarysquirrel.org

Maybe you'll think this is okay because it's about squirrels, rats, and snakes. You know, those “unfuzzy” creatures who always seem to get the short end of the stick – or in this case, their heads against a cinder block – but I hope not, because it's tough to watch this very disturbing video caught by a PETA undercover investigator at U.S. Global Exotics, Inc., in Arlington Texas.

Because you have to wonder – if USGE attending veterinarian Gene F. Gigglemen, DVM, of Grapevine, Texas, inflicts such cruelty with such nonchalance to these "lesser" beings, what else is this freak doing to other animals behind closed doors? If he's like some other coldblooded vets out there, my guess would be...anything he wants.

The only good news in this sad and horrible mess is that the Texas vet board actually did get this guy this year – but apparently not for any of his cruelty caught on tape as evidenced by his Agreed Order. No, what they got the good “doctor” for is almost as disturbing, because it illustrates a complete lack of regard for the laws of his own profession.

I know – shocker, right?

Besides smashing squirrels' heads against cinder blocks, “euthanizing” a rat the same way, and advising workers to either decapitate a whole bunch of snakes or put them in the freezer to “freeze 'em solid” (don't want to have to use a bottle of that expensive euthanasia solution now, do we?) here's what else Giggleman had absolutely no problem doing, as stated in Agreed Order for Docket No. 2012-38 of the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Italics are mine.

  • Respondent admitted to the Board that in July or August 2009, Respondent issued three blank health certificates, pre-signed, that USGE used to issue health certificates in Respondent's name on animals that Respondent had never examined.
  • While at USGE, Respondent signed ten blank acclimation certifications, which require that the signing veterinarian attest that animals described on the form show no external visual evidence of disease. Respondent gave these ten blank certifications to an employee of USGE, saying, “You're going to be shipping a lot. Ten health certificates.”
  • Respondent submitted patient records to the Board in response to a Board request for patient records from his work for USGE. The records do not include the necessary information regarding the animals Respondent treated, including but not limited to the species and number of animals examined; weight required for diagnosis and treatment; temperature required for diagnosis or treatment; differential diagnosis and/or treatment; names, dosages, concentrations and routes of administration of each drug prescribed, administered, and/or dispensed; and other details necessary to substantiate the examination, diagnosis and treatment provided, and/or surgical procedure performed.

(Oh, boy, this list of recordkeeping violations is almost identical to what Suki's monster, Edward J. Nichols DVM of Crestway Animal Clinic in San Antonio, got away with completely in her case. But then Giggleman didn't have the esteemed then-board secretary Martin E. Garcia, VMD of Raymondville protecting him.)

But back to Giggleman, I think this is my favorite:
  • On November 30, 2011, Respondent stated to the Board that he had lost his controlled substances log in 2010.

Yeah. Right. An entire controlled substances log – poof!

So what did the Texas vet board do to this freak Giggleman after all that? Yank his license? Keep him out of work for a few months to punish him? Of course not, silly! He got a formal reprimand, a two-year suspension – all of which was “stayed,” which means he gets to go on working – plus probation, a $2500 administrative penalty, and three hours of continuing education in recordkeeping. Oh – and he's still a professor at Dallas-based Parker University. Read more about Giggleman's disciplinary action here.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: If Gene F. Giggleman makes you as sick as he would most decent people, PETA has this suggestion on their web site:

“Giggleman is still under investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for his actions at USGE. Help ensure that Giggleman is held accountable for all that he did at USGE by urging Sarah R. Saldaña, the United States attorney for the Northern District of Texas, to charge Giggleman with felony and/or misdemeanor violations of the Lacey Act.”
Contact Saldaña through her office's public information officer, Kathy Colvin, Kathy.Colvin@usdoj.gov

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO: 

SIGN THIS CARE2 PETITION: Take Away Cruel Vet's License
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