Ryan Ainsworth was a veterinary member of the Investigative Committee. He was first appointed to the Investigative Committee during the December 16, 2015 Board Meeting. He was reappointed during the February 21, 2018 Board Meeting.
Ainsworth is listed as a member of the AM Investigative Committee in the Fall 2016 and Fall 2018 issues of The Scratching Post, the vet board newsletter.
During his appointment, the Board's then-chair (and former AzVMA President), Brian Serbin, recused himself from the vote. We don't know why, but it does lead to the possibility that Ainsworth and Serbin have some connection.
Ainsworth purchased Bark Avenue Animal Hospital in 2018 "to keep continuing to improve and to create a fun and comfortable environment for pets and all their needs while bringing the additional benefits and resources of our sister hospitals Mesa Northeast Animal Hospital and Noe’s Ark Animal Hospital" (link).
Bark Avenue Animal Hospital subsequently went on to be the site of one of the more gruesome veterinary complaints on record, 21-11. In that case, one the new hires at the hospital, Karen Smolen, performed a botched intestinal surgery on a cat. The cat's abdomen became severely contaminated with feces due to poor surgical technique and later died at a specialty center. Ainsworth apparently recommended Smolen for the surgery, was in his office while the surgery unfolded, subsequently fired Smolen, then sent a shaken junior veterinarian to inform the family of the cat's poor condition and prognosis. Smolen moved back to California and the Board dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The incident was covered in an AZCentral article that covered the matter in the context of Arizona's new universal licensing system rather than a failure of a former veterinary board investigator to vet his own vets (link).
Ryan Ainsworth voted to dismiss about 80.6% of complaints in our Tails of Woe.
We've tallied up Ryan Ainsworth's votes during the time covered by our public records requests. Of the cases we have, Ryan Ainsworth voted in 62 cases. Of those, Ryan Ainsworth voted in favor of at least one motion containing the word "dismiss" in 50 of them.
Below we've included Ryan Ainsworth'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 | 50 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 51 |
| Find violation | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 |