Vet Accused Of Punching Dog
An Arizona veterinarian has been arrested on suspicion of punching a five-pound Chihuahua multiple times in the head — causing one eye to be dislodged.
The vet allegedly struck Bella, the Chihuahua, out of anger when she was not being cooperative. The dog is now temporarily blind in her right eye. Two veterinary technicians witnessed the incident. The vet is facing charges for animal cruelty.
This is not the first time that this vet has gotten into trouble. He is also facing theft charges when he was supposed to vaccinate a dog. He put the medication down the sink instead of vaccinating the dog, and he charged the owner $80 for the vaccination.
Bella is expected to regain sight in her eye and recover.
Update: The vet has made bail and denies that he hit Bella and says that he “never ever physically abused an animal” in his life.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:10 am
This makes me so mad. I hope this guy loses his license.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:10 am
What is wrong with this vet? Why is he even in this profession? Chihuahua’s cannot take abuse. He needs to have his license revoked and be tried Criminally for this Crime. And he had the gall to charge the pet owner?
Wake up America! This is the new America! How it sucks!
June 12th, 2007 at 9:20 am
never mind his license. there’s a biblical precedent for how to deal with monsters like this.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:37 am
This vet is obviously very sick in the head, maybe he needs to be put to sleep!!
June 12th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Special place in hell for this vet.
June 12th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Who knows what else this nasty monster has done to these animals. I’ve vet teched and some animals can be quite uncooperative, but with proper restraint and patience on the part of those caring for them, they can be treated. If a vet or care taker can’t have the patience for such an animal they really should look for a different profession. Maybe some start out for the love of animals, but turn later for the love of money….seen some vets I didn’t much care for. I hope this guy gets some serious jail time and gets beat up on a regular basis.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:03 am
As Debbie said, you can probably assume, he has done other horrible things ie: the operating room and when no one was looking.
Forget this PC society, it’s perhaps time for old time justice.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:18 am
I think people sue to often but if I was the owner of that little dog I would sue that vet. My sister and I were wondering how often vets intentionally hurt pets. She had a cat that had come home from a vet vsit acting hurt. When you have a witness or two like in this case I would go for it. One wonders why this creep is a vet but I wonder all the time why people who mistreat and abuse their pets even have a pet. Poor little guy..it makes me sick!
June 12th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Many years ago, I took my 4mo. old Yorkie/Poo to a groomer to have his nails cut. The groomer suggested I come back for him, but I said I’d stay as it wouldn’t take long. Well this groomer slapped my dog because he was not co-operating. I then found, after several tries, a groomer who allowed me to stay for all grooming procedures. Since then, I’ve kept this groomer and I am her assistant, for all my dogs. One time my daughter visited and needed a hair matt removed from her cat, my groomer was away. I got a different pet salon, and insisted on staying inspite of icy stares and under the breath talking. To me vets and groomers are chosen the same as one chooses a day-care.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Oh, and the origional groomer lost his licence. Seems that I was not the only one to complain.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Glad this is an animal lovers site. Not everyone feels the same way most of us do about this. Check out some of the blogs after the article!
June 12th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Itchmo,
What a depressing lot of news to open first thing in the morning. Not just this poor dog but the unrecalled toxic food, shooting katrina pets, etc.. Ugh. I’m wiped out/depressed already just from scrolling the headlines unable to read any of them in full detail.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Off with his rotten head!
June 12th, 2007 at 11:54 am
You can research and find out if the vet you use has ever been charged with wrongdoing and convicted. I found a whole bunch of info on the net and ….it’s scary how many vets were listed! Shop around. for sure.
June 12th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
The vet should be euthanized.
June 12th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Poor Bella. The vet should certainly have his license permanently revoked by the AZ vet licensing board. I wonder if he has practiced in other states?
June 12th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
This sort of thing is where my distrust in vets began. When I was in college, I worked for a while as a vet tech in Texas at a vet’s office where the vets were all rednecks and hunting enthusiasts. I have many stories, but the one that sticks out most in my mind is this - the tech who was training me was a former Marine with a real chip on his shoulder. One day he and I were giving meds to the puppies in an isolation area, where all of the puppies were being treated for parvo. There was little rotty puppy, about five months old, who was this sickest one there (I of course was immediately attached to him). The other tech was trying to get him out of the kennel, and the little rotty kept nipping at him. The tech then punched the sick puppy, I told him not to do it, and he did it again. I didn’t hesitate one more second, and I (then a scrawny 19 year old of about 135 lbs.) grabbed Mr. Marine, thew him against the wall and then onto the floor. Mr. Marine ran off with his tail between his leg. I scratched the puppy behind the ear, and was promptly, and thankfully, fired.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Lock him in a room full of animal lovers and look the other way. Do not listen to the screams.
June 12th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
But I want to hear the screams of that damn so called doctor ;)
June 12th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
“You can research and find out if the vet you use has ever been charged with wrongdoing and convicted. I found a whole bunch of info on the net and ….it’s scary how many vets were listed! Shop around. for sure.”
Where? Is there a nationwide database anywhere?
June 12th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
And if the vet never hit her, how did her eye fall out? I notice he didn’t explain that.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
That vet should be taken out in the street tied to a pole and stoned to death. IMO. Poor little dog.
June 12th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Wow, you know when they take your dog in the other room to give the shot, maybe we should insist on being there!!
June 12th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
The same goes for when you get your car tuneup!!!
June 12th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
KimS,
Good point. When I vet teched there were some that did want to be there. Some of the vets didn’t like it. I see nothing wrong with shots or even the blood drawing. But there were some things the pet owner should rather not see if it can be avoided. I will say this though, the one vet I usually worked with and I had to continuously wipe down the tables in the back. There were other techs that could have and should have been keeping them clean. Then were were the other techs and vets that would put the pets down on dirty tables. That went right through me. I know that I wouldn’t want my cats put on that table, which is why I think sometines as much should be done as possible in front of the owner to ensure things are kept nice.
And for those of you reading this, you can insist on being present. They may try to talk you out of it, but you should be able to see most of what is done if you really want to.
June 12th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I have a little chihuahua approx. the same size as Bella. I take this very personally. I would like to personally “Tune Up” this so called Vet myself in a very public place for all to see and remember well.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
This just makes me sick. Vet should be neutered with a rusty butter knife.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
The vet was able to “rally back” from 2 big setbacks a few years ago, but I think public outrage might make this a little harder to overcome.
http://tinyurl.com/2hdbcr
June 12th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Sounds like the vet I used to work for. And I heard that things got even worse after I left.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
OK. How did the idiot Vet explain it to the pet parents on the condition of Bella’s eye? It just happened by itself. And the 2 vet techs are lying? Right.
Yeah, he needs to feel the pain just like little Bela did.
June 12th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Debbie–I stayed with all my dogs for needles. And once when a student came in, unannounced, to give a needle, I sent her away. I insisted that my vet do it. No one practises on my babies !! Even in their last moments, I held them and talked to them.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
What a goon! He must have loved “Little Bunny Foo Foo” as a child!
http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/l007.html
June 12th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Here we go again. More animal abuse. This time, THROW HIM IN JAIL!!!
If that were my pet, that vet would be more than temporarily blind.
What an idiot!
June 12th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Did anybody see what this POS looks like? There’s a photo at this news link:
http://timesunion.com/AspStori.....=6/11/2007
Something else to curdle your blood–he’s listed here on a shelter group’s vet list:
http://www.azgoldenretrieverco.....rtners.htm
He’s listed on Yahoo local and the comments are flying:
http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=20082041
June 12th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Menusux - he looks completely stoned… is probably abusing veterinary grade pharms
June 12th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
B*****D!
The vet should be forced to eat 10 cans of the toxic food!
June 13th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
This kind of thing happens all the time, and bless the brave vet techs who speak out about it, because usually, their careers are TOAST afterwards, since veterinarians protect each other, EVEN abusers among them.
If you doubt that this kind of thing happens all over, see www.sheridantruth.com for another story, told by brave vet techs.
Beyond physical abuse, there is malpractice, negligence, and just outright laziness/carelessness/incompetence that kills many pets.
See my site, the Toonces Project, to read some of those cases.
http://www.TheTooncesProject.com
June 13th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
I think you still can, ( used to be able too) check out reputations of vets,
through the american veterinary association. You can give a name, and see if the vet has had any convictions, ( used to be able to find out if charges were pending, malpractice suits etc) used to be on the internet.
The lists I found were long, and it seemed some vets had several long time issues, but they are still out there practising.
You are the paying client, you have a right to know the vet you choose
is reptutable and clear of any “bad” history……
This guy’s name shoudl not be forgotten…..nor his photo……..what a scum.
a five pound dog…..wonder how he treats his kids or his wife IF he has any.
Grrrrr!
June 13th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
I’d like to know where this can be done at 7dog mum!
I’ve googled around, but can’t find a place that can list names, to see if the vet has had any convictions, charges pending, malpractice suits, reviews, credentials, etc on the internet. I’d sure like to check out my vets standings, post a link if you find one.
Thanks in advance.
June 13th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Most checks can be done by the Professional Licensing Board of the state the person practices in. You can find them easiest by going to the home page for that state’s government. Quite a few have this information online, but AZ does not–you need to phone the Board and they will tell you what’s on the record. You can, for a small per page copy fee, request copies from that particular professional’s file. AZ has the MD’s online like this, but not the vets.
Most useful are the online databases for this, as you can check someone even if you’re out of the state he/she practices in. (Used this to find out that an MD used by a big pharma company for their mouthpiece was not at all a specialist in a certain disease, but a GP with a suburban office not far from their corporate headquarters. :-P)
June 13th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Flamin, what state are you in?
Some states have the ability to look up disciplinary records online. This would only be state vet board records, though, it would not include civil cases OR animal cruelty charges, only charges brought by the professional regulatoy boards. (which are universally lax in their enforcement, IMHO)
June 13th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Between the vets doing diddly to get the word out on TV about the symptoms of the poison, selling poison Hills food to get the kickbacks and make more money from sick pets (really slick circular system there fellas, just not very ethical) and beating up the helpless , the profession is not exactly covering itself with the glory, is it?
June 13th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Thanks menusux I’ll check into it! And thanks for the yahoo link.
I live in Washington State Stefani:)
June 13th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Here is a direct link to the Illinois IDPR Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.
http://www.idfpr.com/license.asp
On this site you can find out a lot about a licensed individual
Check out the site as there are many sections available. One specifically deals with disciplinary action against licensees.
I am quite sure each state has a similar site.
Hope this helps
Captn’ Carl
June 13th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Winston says dog’s eye dislodging was a “understandable event.” What a piece of work!
Case Updates
A Sun City West veterinarian is speaking out after prosecutors charged him with animal cruelty on Monday.
Dr. Joshua Winston is accused of hitting a Chihuahua on its head so hard that the dog’s eye dislodged.
He says he is being wrongly accused and points to his 25 years as a vet as proof.
“I’ve never had a complaint, I’ve never had an eyebrow raised against me, never any charges, worries or concerns,” Winston said.
Investigators also claim Winston billed a patient for giving medication to their dog but actually threw the drugs in the trash.
“The basis of veterinarian medicine is faith in the profession,” Winston admitted. “This has stripped me naked and rocked me to the soul.”
Winston says he has spoken with the owner of the Chihuahua and explained to her the dog’s eye dislodging was a “understandable event.”
http://www.abc15.com/news/loca.....c8ac0c86c9
http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/11543/AZ/US/
June 13th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
In rebuttal to the sob story of the poor publicly ostracized Veterinarian Doctor Winston:
As a former Military Police Investigator and Chicago Police Officer I wonder
Is it possible that the veterinary technicians are lying?
Maybe it also possible that the investigators are wrong?
How about the arresting Officers: Wrong too?
And then there’s the Judge, what about the Judge who granted you bail?
Well-yes the Judge was wrong to grant you bail.
Do you really expect anyone to believe that everyone else here is wrong and you’re right?
C’mon Doc and I use that term very loosely, who do you think you’re dealing with here?
Where there’s smoke there’s fire. And where you’re going for this there will be plenty of fire!
And the sooner you are there, the better for all concerned, especially the patients whose trust you have flagrantly and deceitfully betrayed.
Do I feel sorry for you? You bet I do. I’m very sorry that you’re not roasting in hell where you belong right now!
And as far as your excuse to the owner of Bella: “the dog’s eye dislodging was an “understandable event.â€
If dreams were to come true; your beheading would similarly be an “understandable eventâ€!
June 14th, 2007 at 1:22 am
Strip him of his license. No, that’s too kind.
Shoot him up with sodium pentobarbitol. No, that’s too kind, too.
Feed him to the lions. Yep, I could live with that.
June 14th, 2007 at 9:00 am
[…] owners are standing by their vet (pictured here) who has been accused of hitting a Chihuahua. One woman describes him as “nothing but wonderful” to her six cats and another woman […]
July 11th, 2007 at 3:50 am
[…] June, an Arizona veterinarian was accused of punching a chihuahua named Bella. He allegedly hit Bella 3-5 times in the head causing her eye to dislodge. Two veterinary […]
June 8th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Just to give you the straight facts….public records have shown that the two vet asstants stories have not stood up to scrutiny nor has the investigation by the county…one of the two assistants was actually seen by 3 witnesses poking the dog with a rabies pole before the vet ever arrived thaat day..she also recanted her story in front of witnesses a week later. Both vet assistants have change their stories numerous time and have stated details that could not have possibly happened.
futher the pet was seen within 24 hours after the unfortunate event by 3 specialists who all stated clearly that there was absolutely no signs of trauma to the pet that would indicate any form of punching and that the injury that the pet sustained was absolutely a known one when certain breeds struggle while being restrained appropriately. In fact this has happened to many vets and is well documented in the the medical literature
Further investigation has revealed that the theft charge was one thatwas made up by a vindictive employee and has absolutely no proof and the story has changed many times. In fact it one of the people this vindictive individual cites as helping the vet during the vaccine claim was not even in the hospital that day.
Further there were 3 other witnesses present during the event but the sheriff department either neglected or refused to interview them as they did not agree with the supposed witnesses.
Further under oath the vet assistants were in front of the board it was obviuos to everyone present that they changed their stories, made up facts and could not give consistent responses to simple questions. In fact both of them continued to come back to work and they never filed any complaint. The complaint was filed by an employee that knew they were about to be replaced for gross incompetence.
Now you may not want to believe everything just written but it is true and certainly should give any thinking person the idea that there may be a whole other side to this story.
And further imagine if this vet is actually innocent. Imagine yourself being accused unfairly and having the same inaccurate and untrue facts instantaneously published all over the internet and media.