The Arizona Veterinary Medical Association is the professional and trade association that props up most of the state's veterinary system. Whenever a malpractice bill is introduced in the state legislature or the government reviews the conduct of the state veterinary board, AzVMA operatives are never far away. We've already mentioned their curious tax filings in Taxing Times on Coolidge Street, so here we'll look into what's considered acceptable standards of practice among Arizona's real top dogs.
Like most important professions, veterinarians have an organization to look out for themselves. At the state level, for an Arizona veterinarian, that's the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association. It's operated by a handful of officers including a President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer, just like your typical after-school club. It also has an elected Board of Directors voted for by veterinarians on a per-district basis throughout the state. What we have, on the other hand, are the complaints filed against many of them over the years, including some of the top brass. Let's see what kind of people Arizona veterinarians send to the top of the ziggurat.
The AzVMA's 2023 President, Racheal McKinney of Urban Livestock, was notable even before her rise to the top of the state's veterinary profession. Starring in complaint 21-57, McKinney apparently had a horse wake up on her in the middle of being castrated, "emasculator" still attached to the horse as it ran around for several minutes. The complainant in that case also alleged that the horse began bleeding severely from the scrotum that required a late-night scrotum stitching; McKinney and her assistant Kade McKinney allegedly then more or less fell off the radar while yellow pus was said to be coming out of the horse's more sensitive parts. At the time, McKinney was merely the secretary-treasurer of the organization, and Arizona veterinary board investigators voted to find her guilty of gross negligence—one of those investigators being none other than Cameron Dow, the man who would eventually replace her as AzVMA secretary-treasurer. The veterinary board itself, however, had other ideas and dismissed the complaint.
McKinney's soon-to-be-successor, the AzVMA's 2023 President-Elect, Sandra Snyder, was the subject of complaint 22-89. In that case, a dog was brought to her clinic with symptoms that included shivering and panting. Snyder worked the dog up for Valley Fever, which later came back negative, and also put the dog on anti-inflammatory medication for possible disc disease. The symptoms subsequently progressed to pacing, falling down, and eventually going blind, and the dog's out-of-state family veterinarian was apparently concerned about infection and recommended antibiotics instead. The dog was subsequently euthanized at a well-known emergency chain. It also appears that at some point during this entire matter, the dog's penis became stuck outside its sheath at home, and Snyder told the dog's owners how to reinsert the penis over the phone. One of Snyder's colleagues, Kimberley Shaird, eventually had to reinsert the penis during an office visit, stating that it was actually a medical emergency (22-90). The state veterinary board had no concerns with either case.
Meanwhile, the AzVMA's 2023 Vice-President, Tara-Lyn Temple, wasn't about to be outdone. She features in back-to-back complaints, first by filing a complaint against one of her own veterinarians, then being the subject of a complaint herself. In the first complaint, 22-22, Temple filed a complaint against Kristin Kelly, one of her own veterinarians at Animal Care Hospital of Phoenix. In the complaint, she discussed how Kelly and a senior veterinary technician, Amber Harings, walked off the job at her clinic in a very unprofessional manner. According to Temple, the sudden resignation showed a total disregard for continuity of care for her patients; we're also told that Kelly had a potty mouth. Kelly's response states that Temple was well aware she planned to leave, stating that the Animal Care Hospital of Phoenix was a seriously troubled institution, a hostile workplace, and jeopardized the health and safety of pets through all-too-frequent mistakes. In the very next complaint, 22-23, Temple herself is in trouble for operating on the wrong leg. It appears that the incident was chalked up to her own staff not being able to use basic medical terminology, assuming "RCL" meant Right Canine Leg rather than Ruptured Cruciate Ligament. The veterinary board ended up giving Temple a serious-sounding but effectively meaningless Decree of Censure for cutting on the wrong leg.
Wayne Anderson is a former AzVMA President (2006-2007) who ended up making a comeback as an Advisory Council member on the 2022 Board of Directors. He's perhaps best known today as the CEO of the AZPetVet chain of veterinary hospitals, a chain whose facilities were featured in about 30 complaints in our Tails of Woe. These complaints include allegations where a dog was said to have died within a day of an anal gland expression (18-29), a stomach tumor was potentially misdiagnosed as a diet issue (19-59), a traumatic euthanasia (19-63 and 19-64), extreme dentals (20-106, 21-121, and 18-58), blindness (21-143), induced deafness (18-96), questionable priorities (18-70 and 18-71, 19-68), misdiagnosed mange (18-86), a terminal diagnosis used as leverage (21-40), mysterious deaths (21-150, 21-74), and one case of bona fide, government-stamped gross negligence (22-61). Fellow former AzVMA President John Samuelson (2014-2015) shows up in another AZPetVet complaint, 20-48, during which a dog comes out from a procedure "flopping like a seal" and gets passed around to specialists throughout Maricopa County. Kaylee Yoshimoto, the 2021-2022 AzVMA President, worked at AZPetVet's Happy Valley Animal Hospital and hasn't turned up in their roster of complaints thus far.
Former AzVMA President Kara Thomas (2020-2021) worked her way up from the organization's secretary-treasurer position. In her day job, she was one of the top veterinarians at the Midwestern University Companion Animal Clinic and featured prominently in the best-known set of complaints about the facility. She was the respondent in 19-19, the first of five complaints filed regarding a botched test by a student, a delayed discharge, and a subsequent decline that led to the dog's death despite being passed around to many of Midwestern's top veterinarians. Investigators found some minor faults regarding Thomas' handling of communications with the dog's family, but the board threw even those minor concerns out. One of her fellow respondents in this matter was none other than veterinarian and lawyer Carla Gartrell, who would go on to be on the AzVMA's Advisory Council.
Kenneth Skinner was also a former AzVMA President (2011-2012) and part-owner of Prescott Animal Hospital and Equine Center, a clinic with more than a few connections in the veterinary sector. It was the employer of both veterinary board technician member Julie Mumford and her successor Nikki Frost. It was also co-owned by Steven Dow, a former veterinary board member and AzVMA Director, and ownership was subsequently passed to his son Cameron, an AzVMA Director and former veterinary board investigator. Prescott Animal Hospital proper was listed in at least two complaints. One case involved a cat who died after being left unmonitored in recovery (19-51) at the award-winning premises; investigators recommended opening an investigation into Skinner himself but this never happened. In another case, a dog was repeatedly treated and discharged in what was said to be extremely rushed circumstances; the dog was treated for diet issues but subsequently bled to death out of his rectum and mouth on the way to a different hospital (21-148). At least three complaints also relate to the associated Equine Center alleging everything from over-eager tooth-pulling (19-54), outright neglect (20-122), and running unapproved diagnostics on a horse using an Arizona legal loophole (21-50).
Some veterinarians are part of an elite few who serve on both the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association's Board of Directors as well as the state veterinary board responsible for regulating the AzVMA's own members, either as government-appointed board members or on one of the subsidiary Investigative Committees. Such entanglements drive home the absurdity of allowing this profession to largely self-regulate, particularly when you see some of their track records.
Former vet board investigative committee member, Midwestern University vet school founder, mobile specialist surgeon, and business consultant Brian Sidaway also appears as a former AzVMA Director in a document covering a 2015 accreditation visit to Colorado State University. While he was never a respondent in a complaint, he came exceedingly close. In complaint 21-22, veterinarian Danielle Simons of Desert Ark Animal Hospital performed an allegedly sketchy surgery while relying on the counsel of none other than one Brian Sidaway. The complainant in that case alleged that the specialist, who turned out to be Sidaway, was reported to be on the phone the entire time advising Simons about the surgery, going so far as to allege that Simons basically used her dying dog for surgical practice. One of Arizona's investigative committees found Simons guilty of gross negligence but the veterinary board threw out the complaint. During his own time as an investigator on their other committee, he voted to dismiss about 80% of complaints, including cases where a cat was killed by a feeding tube (21-104), an allegedly-disturbed euthanasia vet posted pictures of a dying cat on Facebook (21-43), and a dog died because veterinarians and staff incorrectly connected an anesthesia machine (21-63).
AzVMA Director and veterinary board investigator Christina Tran, who also appears in the same 2015 accreditation visit to Colorado State University as Sidaway, has no complaints filed against her as of this writing. In fact, the only known criticism of her on record appears to be that she had poor attendance as a veterinary board investigator, with the veterinary board at one point discussing dropping her to an alternate status. Tran maintained a variety of activities, including founder and past president of the Multicultural Veterinary Medical Association and board member at clinic consolidator Rarebreed Veterinary Partners. While not a respondent herself, in her current role as a faculty member at the University of Arizona's alternative veterinary school she works alongside notable respondents like Haverley Coy and Sarah Carotenuto. She also found time to be interviewed in episode 124 of the Veterinarian Success Podcast, Being Okay with I Don't Know, in which she discusses "how the investigation committee works and the process" and "why most veterinarians should have nothing to worry about."
Cameron Dow, a former AzVMA Secretary-Treasurer and veterinary board investigator, no doubt believes in the American family. His wife, fellow veterinarian Amie Dow, owns and operates Yavapai Emergency Animal Hospital and Urgent Pet Prescott with veterinary board member Nikki Frost and multiple-time respondent (and AzVMA Director) Barbara Batke. He himself co-owned Prescott Animal Hospital, succeeding his father Steven, who also happened to succeed Cameron as a veterinary board investigator (no, we're not making this stuff up). While Dow himself was never the subject of a complaint in our records, Prescott Animal Hospital and Equine Center racked up a handful mentioned above. Much like his investigative colleague Brian Sidaway, his voting record as an investigator might lead to some level of public concern. A self-described "detective", he also voted to dismiss over 80% of cases, concurring with fellow investigator Sidaway on matters including the aforementioned fatal feeding tube (21-104), allegedly-crazy vet with death pics (21-43), and disconnected anesthesia system (21-63).
Brian Serbin was a former AzVMA President (2007-2008) who also ended up being the chair of the state veterinary board back in the 2010s. His Ingleside Animal Hospital was listed in two complaints in the records we've obtained. In one case, a complainant alleges that a veterinarian at Ingleside diagnosed the cat with stomatitis and leukemia, recommending a $2000 dental pulling all the cat's teeth but another veterinarian found evidence of neither. When confronted on the matter, Serbin allegedly told the complainant that no refund was owed because she "came for an opinion and got one" (19-48); investigators agreed and stated that it was all a matter of opinion. In another complaint, it was alleged that Ingleside's confused operations and records management led to the wrong dog receiving an unnecessary injection of Proheart; it's also implied that, under the information systems used at Ingleside, opting out of spam may have also opted you out of pet health reminders (21-44).
Michael Lent was a former vet board member, AzVMA President (2005-2006), and SAVMA president who eventually sought higher office with the national AVMA. His Ingleside Animal Hospital was subject to two related complaints in which a cat was allegedly brought in with an anal gland issue, upsold on dentals, and finally died from kidney disease (22-02 and 22-03). Regardless of the merits of the case, Lent's response gives the impression of someone who sees his veterinarians as under siege, going so far as to threaten to sue the complainant in response for what he views as abuses of the legal system.
Veterinarian Toni Barnes was listed as the AzVMA's only non-office-holding director in sketchy Arizona Corporation Commission filings from 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. A certified veterinary acupuncturist, she appears to have had better luck with small needles than large ones. In 22-114 she attempted to perform a cystocentesis to get urine out of a dog after other staff had concerns performing the procedure on such a small dog. Barnes ended up hitting the vena cava rather than the bladder and the dog bled to death during a subsequent nail trim after the procedure. Investigators found both gross negligence and malpractice, both of which the board subsequently ignored.
Banfield veterinarian and former AzVMA Director Teresa Duthie was the final respondent (22-132) in a trilogy of complaints regarding a dog that ended up spending two nights in intensive care after multiple veterinarians missed newly-onset liver disease after a teeth cleaning. Following an initial dismissed complaint against Banfield veterinarian Carie Bikson, the veterinary board opened investigations into both Duthie and fellow veterinarian Elizabeth Munhall. Investigators came down quite hard on Duthie, stating that they had no confidence in her accuracy regarding the exam and finding her guilty of medical incompetence. The board rounded the violation down to a failure to provide professionally acceptable procedures regarding testing for liver disease.
Barbara Batke was an AzVMA Director as well as a business partner of veterinary technician board member Nikki Frost. In 21-112 Batke was the subject of a complaint largely initiated by another veterinarian subsequent to a Facebook post that suggested Batke's Yavapai Emergency Animal Hospital was using a super-duper version of a vet tech in ways that weren't entirely legal. Her partner Frost recused herself from the board during the case and spoke along with Batke instead, and the board eventually couldn't even work up the nerve to subpoena medical records regarding the matter. In another case, 22-142, Batke was named as respondent in a complaint that alleged some concerning financial and veterinary practices related to a kidney stone. Investigators found "concerns regarding the care and treatment of the dog" but didn't hold Batke at fault as the responsible veterinarian for the premises, instead stating it was good that another complaint was filed against the attending veterinarian, Marian Frost.
Julianne Miller was an AzVMA Director and owner-operator of Canyon Pet Hospital, an otherwise nondescript entity (from a complaints perspective) that ended up with all four of its complaints in our file submitted against it in the same fiscal year. In the first complaint, 21-15, a complainant alleges predatory financial behavior and poor triage practices before having to walk out of the clinic. In 21-23 another complainant describes leaving his dog at the clinic for four days of "improvement" before being discharged nearly unable to breathe; the complainant, a trucker, found it impossible to arrange subsequent care and the dog died. In two more complaints, 21-24 and 21-25, a different complainant alleges that the hospital left a tumor inside their dog and cut out something else instead; the dog also had complications in recovery that led to financial bargaining between the complainant and Miller. One of Miller's veterinarians was none other than Cameron Folkers, a man claimed to have attempted to smother a horse to death with his mother's assistance during a euthanasia gone wrong (the horse was eventually shot in the head instead).