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.
Read more about Stempy, Greg and Cindy after the jump.
Of all of the veterinary victims who have lost their furkids to veterinary negligence and incompetence, there's something about a grown man fighting back tears that really gets to you. I don't know why. All I know is that my conversations and correspondence with men who have had to face what might possibly be the worst thing to ever happen to them―the loss of their beloved companion animal at the hands of a negligent vet―have been especially heart wrenching.
On this Father's Day, I recall breaking the news over the phone to my own dad about Suki's death. After what seemed like forever, dad choked out one sentence--”She was a class act”--before breaking down and handing the phone to my mom, who could not speak at all after I told her. In fact, neither of my parents could set foot in my home for a full month after Suki's horrendous death from hideous mistreatment by an even more hideous quack. The thought of Suki―OUR Suki, our most wonderful, precious family member―taken so senselessly from her family was unbearable. For a man who had always been a dog person, remembering my dad finishing out Suki's little condo, bringing over a special “scratching log” and bowl of tasty homegrown grass, along with his camera to take pictures at Suki's little birthday parties, Suki's Christmas, Suki's Sitting Around, Suki's Everything, still makes me laugh.
So to all of those wonderful Doggie Dads and Cat Pops, and all Pet Dads who have suffered the loss of their best friends because of a BadVet, you are in my thoughts today. Please know you are not alone.
I can't let this Father's Day go by without a tribute to one of the most amazing Dog Dads I've ever known. Stempy the Shih Tzu―known as Daddy's Little Deputy―was the furkid of fellow Texan and consumer advocates Greg Munson and his wife Cindy.
This is a first in a series that spotlights veterinary victims' Tribute Sites that go beyond the story of their own tragedy to help educate others on matters of public concern, health, and safety.
The site: http://www.petmalpractice.com/
Site owner: Cindy O' Malley
Veterinarian: William Schultz, DVM, Schultz Veterinary Clinic, Okemos, Michigan
The gauze that Schultz left inside Mulan during surgery
is surrounded by a growth the size of a cantaloupe. Photo:
Courtesy of Michigan State University.
Mulan's Story is a detailed, compelling site that takes the reader step by step through what happened to Alaskan Malamute Mulan at the hands of William Schultz, DVM, of Schultz Veterinary Clinic in Okemos, MI. This is a story that just goes from bad to worse and the pictures are devastating. Mulan lived, thanks to the efforts of veterinarians at Michigan State University, but is forever and irreparably damaged by the piece of gauze left inside her during surgery by Schultz (photo at left courtesy of MSU).
Among other things, two elements make this site powerful:
Suki, hard at "work" in our office all those years ago--and still
today serving as my guiding spirit to help as many people as possible
avoid the kind of BadVet who killed her.
Suki's
blog turns one today—the first of what I hope will be many years of
helping people to become more informed veterinary consumers and most
importantly, know what to do to keep their pets safe at the vet's and
what to do to vets who don't.
I
can't believe the thousands of page views the blog has generated in
just a year. Of course we're nowhere near the numbers of our mother
site, The Veterinary Abuse Network (VAN). Vetabusenetwork.com
has been up in one form or another continuously since 2000 and has
built an amazing following of bereaved and outraged pet owners and
guardians eager for anything that would provide information about
BadVets and the systems that protect them. In 2012 alone VAN
had 26,623 unique visitors; 40,761 visits; 106,216 pages viewed; and
369,613 hits. Add the previous eleven years and that's an awful lot
of people searching for information and resources on everything from
How
to File a Complaint Against a Vet to
watching out for "bargain basement" vets who practice
substandard care in Beware
of Dr. CheapVet,
and of course the horror that started it all: my precious
companion's fight for life in Suki's
Story.
But
Suki's Safe Haven is still a baby, and we're just getting started. I
can tell you in our first year our most popular post has been Filing
a Complaint With Your State Board: Why Do It. That
tells me I need to do more posts that help people file complaints
with their state boards. I know it's daunting to take on this huge,
oppressive machine of vets (and their lawyers), state boards (and
their lawyers), the state's Veterinary Medical Associations (and
their lawyers), but the fact is that I always urge victims to file on
their BadVets no matter how small the odds are that anything will be
done. As a recent victim reminded me, it's about exposure—the bane
of every lying, sneaky, manipulative, incompetent, negligent,
malpracticing vet. Even one complaint can catch the worst of these
creeps—and it just might be yours. Let's keep up the pressure on
these boards to do their job and hold these BadVets accountable in
ways serious enough to deter any other creep from doing the same
thing. Period.
Inhumane
euthanasia? Coerced euthanasia? It happens—and more often than
you'd like to think. Barbara Albright's Pocket's
Story from New Hampshire
illustrates the former, and there are a disturbing number of stories about the latter. Read Ken and Nonna Newman's horror story in media
coverage on their precious Trali.
It happens.
Not
surprisingly, our most popular page was The
Lawsuit.
If you haven't yet read how Edward J. Nichols of Crestway Animal
Clinic came after me with three bottom-feeding lawyers in a bully
SLAPP suit to try to take away my First Amendment rights with first a
temporary injunction and then a permanent one (he failed at both),
take a few minutes--you might enjoy the tail, um, tale
of a cowardly vet who waved the white flag the night before
trial. I still smile every time I think of my attorney telling me
when it was over: “Julie, you kicked his ass.” And now with Texas
enacting anti-SLAPP legislation,
it will be even harder for bully vets like Ed Nichols and Crestway
Animal Clinic to use their wealth and the legal system to try to
intimidate, threaten, or force a victim into silence. If you've been
sued by a bully vet who doesn't want the public to know what he or
she did to your pet and is willing to pay big bucks to tear your life
apart, I
want to know about it.
The public has the right to know who and where these creeps are
operating.
And
so many, many more stories. Check out the archives of 2012 to see
what you missed, and share this blog with all the animal lovers in
your life. They need to know what can happen to their pets at a vet's
office--and what happens when the vet gets away with it with the help
of their staff, techs, other vets, their insurance companies, their
lawyers, and the state board systems that are supposed to be
protecting our pets, not
the vets. Some of them even hire webmasters (or as I call some of
them--spam-masters) to try to "bury" the rankings of
negative reviews and web sites, too
stupid to know how much trouble that will get them in,
but then stupidity is rampant among BadVets. How stupid? Too stupid
to know how stupid they really are. Which works in your favor.
Believe it.
To
everybody who writes about and fights against BadVets, I cannot thank
you enough for your work, support and encouragement. It's a whole new
world of communication out there and it is growing exponentially as a
true network of veterinary victims evolves into the next
generation--savvy, smart, kick-ass, informed
consumers
to hopefully take the place of the old, tired, ignorant guard who
thinks all vets love animals and none of them makes any money.
BadVets cannot do what they do without your blind trust. Stop handing
it over because they have a white coat and a stethoscope and they're
so "nice" and "cheap." Do your homework. I
believe most vets are good in the same way I believe most people are
good--but it's not enough. This is a profession that has enjoyed
secrecy and protection behind closed doors for too long, and it's
time to drag some of these vampires out into the sunlight and watch
them shrivel up.
Although
I write alone, Suki is still hard at work as my guiding spirit, and
we will always be a team. Without her strength and her will to live
even through the most hideous and prolonged mistreatment imaginable,
there would be no vetabusenetwork.com, no Suki's Story, no Suki's
Safe Haven, and no future foundation that I hope to establish to help
veterinary victims in real, tangible ways. It is my dream to
bring together enough people to get laws changed, policies improved,
and most of all,
transparency in
the systems that have enjoyed their little secret, closed-door
dealings to protect the worst of these monsters.
In
the meantime, Suki and I will continue to work hard to do everything
we can to help keep people's pets safe at the vet. We can't do it
alone. Keep writing, keep fighting, keep connecting, posting,
sharing, tweeting, blogging, and spreading the message—especially
the message that we will continue to send to every incompetent,
negligent, sloppy, careless, lazy, arrogant vet who ever harmed or
killed someone's beloved companion:
We
will never forget. We will never be silenced.
Don't
miss any posts! Subscribe by email in the box at upper right, under
Suki's picture. Your address will never be shared in any way.
The
Internet is a mixed blessing. Never in the history of veterinary
malpractice have veterinary victims been able to find each other,
compare notes, offer advice and support, research veterinary malpractice cases and
board complaints, and help one another get through the horrific process of
sorting through the wreckage of their lives after an incompetent, negligent veterinarian has
injured or killed their companions.
The
Internet is a double-edged sword for BadVets. It makes it more
difficult for the worst of them to fly under the radar; many
veterinary boards post their state's disciplinary actions online; and
searching for a vet's name and/or the clinic's name can often lead to a client or potential client finding out things the vet
would prefer that nobody know about.
It's the "searching" part that provides BadVets with a silver lining: There are ways to manipulate the public in
cyberspace in much the same way they do in real life; specifically,
perverting SEO (search engine optimization) techniques and misusing links and aggregate sites to artificially increase their page rankings on Google. In short, gaming Google.This makes it more difficult for the average person to find anything negative about BadVets, because the first few pages can be dominated by the vet's manufactured trash specifically and deliberately designed to "push down" the rankings of sites that have negative information about the vet.
If
you recognize your veterinarian in any of the following, take note. Depending
on how brazen, arrogant, or stupid they are, BadVets may be leaving a
trail of evidence that you can gather, document, and use in filing a
board complaint for unprofessional conduct, honesty and fair dealing,
or similar statutes; or possibly even a lawsuit for things like false
advertising and fraud (e.g.,In Texas, the statute of limitations for
fraud is four years, so it's important to keep good records if you think a vet is or has been trying to game search engine rankings). Remember
these involve two entirely different jurisdictions: 1) Check your
individual state's Veterinary Practice Act for specifics on
categories like honesty, fair dealing, false advertising,
unprofessional conduct, and the like; and 2) consult with an attorney
licensed to practice law in your state to discuss lawsuit options regarding fraud and false advertising.
In
the meantime, watch for any signs of the following:
Christmas
Eve. For me it was always the most magical day of the year,
especially as daytime turned to dusk, dusk turned to dark, and the
dark would yield gloriously to twinkling lights everywhere, yummy
aromas coming from the kitchen, and a friend stopping by for dinner and
a movie. We would settle in for a night of wrapping presents, good
food and conversation, hot chocolate, and – if Suki was very, very
good, and of course she always was, even if her “help” at
present-wrapping made more work for me – a tiny crumb of a
Christmas cookie as a special treat. All was well with the world.
Now that picture is like a yellowed image from an ancient, crumbling
book, from a life I can barely remember anymore. The life “before”
– as we who have been through this nightmare refer to it – our pets were lost to veterinary negligence, malpractice, incompetence,
arrogance, stupidity, and yes, outright abuse, taking from us our
pets, our trust, our money, our jobs, our peace of mind, our sense of
safety, and in some cases, our futures.
There
is one tiny bright spot for me on this date. Guess
which day Edward J. Nichols of Crestway Animal Clinic in San Antonio
was notified by certified mail from the Texas Board of Veterinary
Medical Examiners that he was under investigation in Suki's case?
That's right – Christmas Eve. How's that for serendipity? I'd like
to think one very special Siamese had a hand in that, with a little
help from all the other defenseless souls harmed or killed by their own
monsters. I think of that every December 24, and smile at Suki's last
little gift to me for all those wonderful Christmas Eves that will be
no more.
Of course I will think of Suki tonight, overseeing
the decorating and cooking, yowling in the kitchen as she got a whiff
of her special baked organic chicken, pacing in front of the oven,
reminding me of those old Mervyn's commercials with a customer
pressed against the glass saying “Open-open-open.” I'll remember
her sitting in my lap, our eyes locked on each other's, with the Snow
Pas de Deux from the Nutcracker Suite playing in the background.
Remember this moment, I said to myself, etch this forever, take
this picture. And of course,
real pictures of her, countless of them, under the tree, by the tree,
in the tree (Suki was a climber), sitting in her little condo,
decorated with its own miniature tree and cat ornaments, cat toys,
cat everything, everywhere.
But most of all, tonight I will think of all
the others I have met along the way, going through the same neverending nightmare –
some for years, others just now arriving in a club that nobody would
choose to belong to. I get sweet notes from them, these victims from
everywhere. One writes, “Keep the faith. I will always have you
and Suki in my heart.” Another says, “I am grateful to have you
understand what it feels like to have your world shattered, your life
forever altered and I do not feel so alone it in knowing you are out
there.” And more, and still more. They keep me going on my darkest nights.
I am so grateful for my longtime fellow
advocates, plus a whole new wave of smart, savvy fighters putting up web sites, blogs, and Facebook pages to help make sure that
someday, eventually, there will be no place for the monsters to hide.
I started my site in 2000 so that nobody going through this
endless hell would ever feel alone. I am here to tell you that
you are not. Not ever. You and your precious companions – whose
names would take up this entire blog – are always with me, every
day, every night. Especially on this night. On this very Christmas
night.
Much love to you and your companions, and many thanks to all
who work so hard to make sure that our stories are never forgotten.
Suki and Julie, our final Christmas Eve, 1998. Her tree was never put up again.
YouTube video: Christmas Canon - Trans Siberian Orchestra
"We
dance around a ring and suppose but the secret sits in the middle and
knows.”
“The
Secret Sits,” Robert Frost
My
friend and fellow advocate Barbara Albright has had this quote on her
site, Pocket's Story from New Hampshire, for years, but it was only
recently that I fully understood how it applies to incompetent, negligent vets. Here's how that happened:
At
a public meeting of the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
(TBVME) in Austin, Texas, one of the board
investigators and I had a conversation I'll never forget: He told me
that whenever you see a vet reprimanded for violating recordkeeping
statutes, it's sometimes because there were other, more serious
violations, but the allegations were in effect “plea bargained”
down to recordkeeping. Because disciplined vets sign an Agreed Order – vets
have to “agree” to be disciplined – they and their lawyers do
whatever they can to get the final results to an outcome they can live
with – a little slap on the wrist, an "informal" reprimand, a “stayed” suspension
(meaning the vet doesn't miss a day of work), and/or a puny fine.
Of
course this board employee wasn't telling me anything that I and my
fellow advocates didn't already know. Even if vets have directly or
indirectly caused or contributed to the death of a pet, or great
harm was done, their goal is to obtain the least amount of
discipline to save face. Vets are rarely, if ever, disciplined only
for sloppy, shabby, incomplete records, never mind that such records
are a giant red flag as to what kind of truly inadequate, deficient
vet you're dealing with.
I ran across this quote today -- part of an early Apple Computer advertising campaign, specifically a television commercial in 1997. It is reportedly a collaboration between Ken Segall and Rob Siltanen, with input and ultimate approval by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Being a longtime copywriter myself for my corporate clients, I recognize and admire it not only as a thing of beauty and an iconic mantra for innovators and entrepreneurs, but also as an inspiring message for anybody fighting seemingly insurmountable odds.
For all of us who work every day to bring awareness and education to a largely unaware public that unknowingly entrusts its pets to some unethical, incompetent, and downright abusive veterinarians, and for all who have been consistently defamed, attacked, and ridiculed by those same vets, their lawyers, family, friends, and supporters pronouncing us mentally unstable, sick, and yes, crazy, I have only this to say: I'd rather be crazy than a liar. I hope this legendary quote reminds all of us that no matter how insane it sometimes seems to keep fighting, we can never, ever, ever give up.
"Here’s
to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The
round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status
quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they
change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see
them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are
crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
The following is a
condensed version of an article I wrote for my site,
vetabusenetwork.com, entitled “Going to the Vet? Ten Ways to Protect Your Best Friend.” These were lessons
I learned the hard way – by losing my beloved Suki to a despicable veterinarian who violated my trust in every way possible without a
second thought. That completely unnecessary tragedy at the hands of a
monster taught me that when it comes to protecting your pet, you must
treat your visit to a veterinary facility as you would any other
consumer setting. You must never, ever let your guard down, thinking
that all vets love animals and would never harm them (you couldn't be
more wrong). Or that a vet who does something wrong will do the honorable thing and own up to it (nope - some just love to use the word honorable while lying their sorry asses off in every way possible). I've narrowed down
the ten ways to these top five, but they are by no means a complete
list. There are probably 20 more I could list. I learn something new from every victim who contacts me, about
how to avoid what I believe are mostly unnecessary tragedies at the
vet's office. These are things that if you implement in the total
picture of your pet's care, you might have a fighting chance against
incompetent, negligent, and abusive veterinarians who take advantage
of a trusting, unsuspecting public every day. I hope you find
something useful here to keep your beloved companions safe.
There are no stories, not a word of copy. Just slide after beautiful slide of handsome, gorgeous, quirky, comical, much-loved family members of pet owners who likely never knew of the dangers of
vaccination and overvaccination until it was too late. All set to the heartbreaking "Don't Cry for Me." But I warn you: It will be hard not to.
If it makes one pet owner demand more information from veterinarians about the risks of vaccination and over vaccination, if it keeps one pet somewhere from being yet another victim of ignorance, fear, and greed, then these cherished companions did not die in vain.
Share it, Tweet it, Facebook it to every pet owner and guardian you know. It might save a life.
I
just love web sites that kick ass and take names. Stimpy's Journey is
one of those. Stimpy the Cat was lost to vaccine associated sarcoma in
November 2011. The site has a lot of information, photographs (warning: some are graphic), and a chronological account
of the physical, emotional and financial toll that fighting a vaccine associated cancer takes.
In
the impassioned words of Stimpy's human, left behind to grieve:
"Stimpy
was killed by a Boehringer Ingelheim rabies vaccine....I want
Boehringer Ingelheim to know that I have not forgotten what they have
done to Stimpy and all the other victims." -- Stimpy's Journey
Unfortunately,
Stimpy had lots of company on her tragic journey. And Boehringer Ingelheim has lots of company in their apathy, greed, and lack of accountability.
Check out more sites covering vaccine associated cancer and other disorders.
Read what some vets have to say about how their formal education sometimes lacked in the area of vaccine dangers.
And
one of my favorite all around dog sites, Jan Rasmussen's stellar round-up of articles, videos, and blog posts, many on overvaccination risks and what you should know. Truth4Dogs
Kitty Kat Gonzalez, Corpus Christi
Victim of Vaccine Associated Sarcoma
If
you are one of those pet owners who never give vaccinations a second
thought, think that nothing bad can happen to your pet because you
follow your vet's recommendations to get your pets regularly
vaccinated, or believe that veterinarians and state vet boards would never do
anything to endanger the lives of our beloved companions – you
better run, do not walk, to this excellent new web site, Educate Before You Vaccinate.
Site owner Jena Gonzalez is a Corpus Christi, Texas, resident who found out the hard way (and
don't we all when it comes to questionable veterinary practices) that
vaccinations are not always the harmless panacea that they seem. In
fact, they can sometimes be the cause of illness, injury and even
death. And Jena is fighting back.
I
realize the subject of pet vaccinations is not a sexy one. But it's
an important one – important enough to do a series of posts this
week that I hope you'll read, even if you think they'll bore you to death.
Some
pets have been vaccinated to death because 1) their owners thought
they already knew everything they needed to know and 2) they followed
the vet's orders to get their pets vaccinated, no questions asked.
As
one who dutifully followed a vet's orders all the way to the
collapse and subsequent death of my cat, let me tell you that blindly
following a vet's orders on any subject can be one of the biggest
mistakes of your life. This goes double for the topic of vaccinations. Fortunately some pro-animal voices are making it easier
on you to learn what you need to know about vaccination and overvaccination for Fido and Fluffy. Read on.
Suki and me and happier times,
before Edward J. Nichols, Crestway
Animal Clinic, took everything.
It
was 13 years ago tonight that I held my Suki for the last time. It's
funny how you can pinpoint the exact moment that your life changes –
but not at the time it's happening. It sometimes takes years to
realize the full extent of the damage and devastation the complete
betrayal by a incompetent, negligent, and abusive veterinarian can
cause. Only in hindsight can you see the wreckage – in many cases a
hit and run.
Like
most every other veterinary victim I've ever met, known of, or heard
from, my life has never been the same since this happened on April
26, 1999. Actually, make that April 19, the day Suki collapsed and I
made the biggest mistake of my life: trusting a “doctor” to not
do anything to harm or kill her. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish I could turn
back the clock and never allow the monster anywhere near her, or me.
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.
Stefani
Olsen (Bad Vet Daily, The Toonces Project) sent us links to recent
coverage in her state on the veterinary board system:
Reporter
Yvonne Wenger of the Baltimore Sun did a great job with two
recent articles covering what Maryland pet guardians need to know
about their state veterinary board. Be sure to check them out.
One
of the topics I get the most mail about – next to complaints about
unauthorized procedures and how to find a good animal law attorney –
is the subject of informed consent, especially on veterinary drugs
that are prescribed to our companions.
I
often think of Mattie, beloved dog of Ohio journalist Kelly
Kaczala, who took her grief over what happened to Mattie in 2005 at the hands
of veterinarians Robert (Bob) Esplin, DVM and Ross Mahowald, DVM at Sylvania Veterinary Hospital in Toledo, Ohio,
and used her journalistic skills to help others avoid tragedy.
No single event in a
beloved pet's life is as heart-wrenching as a guardian's decision to
humanely end it. When that moment is tainted by suspected veterinary
negligence or incompetence, it becomes unbearable.
Veterinary victim Barbara
Albright of New Hampshire took her eyewitness account of her beloved Scottish Terrier Pocket's inhumane euthanasia, along with some interesting public record information she located, straight to her lawyer – and to the
Internet. Refusing to bow down to the vet's counterclaim for
defamation and attendant legal demands, her suit settled last year. She bravely
continues to write and blog about a variety of subjects, including
Pocket's case, no matter what is thrown at her. One of her recent
posts, March 17, 2012, addresses the most recent threat from vet John
M. MacGregor's lawyer, to which Barbara replied with documents she
received as a result of a FOIA request.
It is a brilliant concept: Highlight a bad vet every day of the year. Heaven knows there's more than enough to go around. While veterinary victim Stefani Olsen's initial plan didn't quite work out that way -- blogging is very time-consuming and emotionally draining when dealing with accounts like these -- the result is no less stunning. The Bad Vet Daily blog showcases an astounding array of some of the most despicable, incompetent, and arrogant vets imaginable.
This is probably a good time to tell you that this will not be an interactive blog. Sad to say, I will not be accepting or publishing comments. While the vast majority of people are understanding and supportive of victims of veterinary abuse, you can't imagine some of the vile, cruel, abusive, and downright threatening statements that “fans” of vets (i.e., staff, techs, family, friends, and of course, the vets themselves) will say and do, and the unending flaming, taunting and ridiculing that takes place of those who dare to speak out for those who have no voice.
