Les Hatfield

Leslie Hatfield was a one-and-done Jan Brewer appointee from 2013 nominated to replace outgoing veterinarian and pet-brain enthusiast Scott Plummer. Hatfield obtained his veterinary medicine degree from Kansas State and acted as owner-operator of Ark Veterinary Clinic since 1990. He also has a variety of extracurricular activities including acting as the past chairman of the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association's Ethics Committee. He also was an officer and volunteer for the Sheriff's Mounted Posse of Maricopa County, but there's no hint as to whether he ever ran into fellow member (and Board member) Greg Byrne there. He also held past memberships in the Association for Ethical Veterinarians and the Association of Veterinary Communicators, an organization for veterinarians interested in media and promotion.

Hatfield's 2013 confirmation hearing before a state senate committee commenced with a bio spot focusing on his farm roots and going off to veterinary school. He subsequently purchased his own mixed-animal veterinary clinic focusing on small animals and horses, but also does some cattle as a result of his team-roping activities. He also tells the senators that he had worked on the ethics committee for the Arizona Veterinary Medical Association and as part of that work went to several meetings with and wrote articles for the American Association of Veterinary State Boards, so he's already familiar with how veterinary boards work. He was asked by one of the senators to provide input regarding a condensed veterinary degree program suggested for the University of Arizona's veterinary school; Hatfield replied that given the resources available to today's veterinarians he believes veterinary education should largely be similar to the educational process for human medicine. Upon further discussion with the senator, Hatfield elaborated that proliferation of veterinary students from such programs could serve to undermine the quality of veterinary medicine.

Hatfield and his veterinarian wife Lisa have been running Moon Valley Animal Hospital since 1990 (link). There are also multiple Arizona Corporation Commission hits, one as recently as 2023, for Les N. Hatfield, D.V.M., P.C. which lists the same business address as Ark Veterinary Clinic; the property at that address is listed as a "former veterinary practice, abundant plumbing throughout" that brings additional revenue from having a cellular tower on top of it.

Hatfield was one of the defendants in a well-known lawsuit brought by Celeste Kelly, Grace Granatelli, Stacey Kollman, and the Institute for Justice. The plaintiffs sued to protect their livelihoods after the vet board prohibited them from practicing horse massage without a veterinary medical license.

Voting Summary

Les Hatfield voted to dismiss about 66.7% of complaints in our Tails of Woe.

We've tallied up Les Hatfield's votes during the time covered by our public records requests. Of the cases we have, Les Hatfield voted in 3 cases. Of those, Les Hatfield voted in favor of at least one motion containing the word "dismiss" in 2 of them.

Below we've included Les Hatfield'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	2	0	0	0	2
Schedule informal interview	1	0	0	0	1

Archival Content

Additional archival content for Les Hatfield is posted below and hosted at the Internet Archive.

Executive Summary	Les Hatfield Executive Appointment Summary (Legislative Session 511R)
Senate Nomination Hearing	Les Hatfield Senate Nomination Hearing (Legislative Session 511R)