Justin McCormick is a veterinary member of the Investigative Committee. McCormick's appointment was initially discussed during the August 18, 2021 board meeting in relation to another applicant; McCormick had apparently applied to be on the Investigative Committee two years prior to this opening. He was subsequently appointed during the September 15, 2021 board meeting, winning over another contender, veterinarian Irene Brady.
In his interview, McCormick stated he was a second-generation veterinarian in Arizona with a family background in equine medicine and ranching; his father was a veterinarian and it sounds as though his brother is a small animal veterinarian. He notes that he's also a boarded surgeon, which along with the other factors makes him an excellent candidate for the Committee in his view. He also says that as an Arizonan being on the Committee is a way to give back both to the community and to the veterinary profession. He stated that attendance at Committee meetings would not be a problem, as unlike a few years ago, the practice is less ambulatory and has a small emergency workload.
McCormick is the owner-operator of Copper Ridge Equine along with his wife and fellow veterinarian, Christine (link). In addition to the clinic's veterinary operations, McCormick also appears as the breeding contact for One Famous Icon, a 2016 AQHA sorrel stallion owned by the One Famous Icon Syndicate. The 2022 fee was given as $2000 and cooled semen is available.
Justin McCormick was himself the respondent in at least two complaints and implicated in another. In 18-124 a horse woke up after surgery, thrashed around, hit his head on the ground, and died. The complainant in that case went on to file a lawsuit against McCormick, Ashley Zanardi vs Copper Ridge Equine, in 2019. In 19-24, actually a complaint against veterinarian Martin Crabo, the complainant alleges that her horse was found to have a neck injury consistent with the timeframe that McCormick had performed surgery on the horse. In complaints 21-12 and 21-13 McCormick and his veterinarian wife Christine were both respondents in complaints regarding the death of a foal and her mother. All complaints were dismissed.
McCormick was selected as one of the veterinary members to continue on to the downsized and merged Investigative Committee in June 2024.
Justin McCormick voted to dismiss about 77.5% of complaints in our Tails of Woe.
We've tallied up Justin McCormick's votes during the time covered by our public records requests. Of the cases we have, Justin McCormick voted in 40 cases. Of those, Justin McCormick voted in favor of at least one motion containing the word "dismiss" in 31 of them.
Below we've included Justin McCormick's vote breakdowns for up to ten of the most common motions. We also have a detailed list of votes and their associated complaints available in the Voting History.
| Motion | Aye | Nay | Recused | Absent | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dismiss with no violation | 31 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 45 |
| Find violation | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Open an investigation with respect to the care and treatment of the dog by Respondent's associates as well as the Banfield organization with respect to their repeated inaccurate and inconsistent medical record keeping and hospital practices. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Additional archival content for Justin McCormick is posted below and hosted at the Internet Archive.