Where to begin on this one? Lee Vork, President of 4-Legged Friends, working in conjunction with
Best Friends of Cats, utilized Kiesel's services for spaying and neutering stray cats. Apparently,
Vork and 4-Legged Friends run a program where they trap cats, fix them, and then feed them a diet
of holistic cat food until they can be adopted out through the Pets 4 Vets Program. That's vets as
in veterans, not veterinarians.
Anyway, one of the cats that they thought was
spayed allegedly turned out to have eight kittens later on. Vork wanted some compensation for this
problem and apparently opened various cases with an "investigator" with a northern New Jersey phone
number. There's also a subplot involving herpes and what Vork refers to as herpes drugs (I think
he means erythromycin, an antibiotic used for secondary infections in cats with herpes). Anyway,
Vork says that he wants $8500 and Kiesel really ought to consider making a tax-deductible $8500
donation to the 4-Legged Friends 501(c)(3). Yes, that's actually what it says. For extra credit you
can look up how much 4-Legged Friends actually reported to the IRS and compare that to what he's asking
for.
Kiesel says that he told them he didn't spay the cat in question because it was sick at
the time. Instead, she was given eye drops, convenia, and kept in isolation to avoid making other
cats sick. Kiesel says that the complainant came to get the cat at that point, and while he said
he would bring the cat back, he never did.
The Investigative Committee had concerns regarding Kiesel's recordkeeping, particularly as he works
with so many hard-to-identify cats. They also noted that the cat in question did have a tipped ear
and a surgical scar suggestive of being spayed, but the cat wasn't actually spayed; they also noted
that the surgical scar would reflect a spaying approach not generally used. (Online sources suggest
that it might be used more frequently in some feral cat situations as healing is said to be easier
to monitor). Basically, someone cut on that cat, but nobody knows who, when, or why. Kiesel got nailed for some medical records violations.
ARS 32-2232 (21) failure to maintain adequate medical records of veterinary services provided as demonstrated by information being documented under the wrong date; the services provided on August 18, 2016 were documented that they occurred on September 1,2016.
ARS 32-2232 (21) as it relates to AAC R3-11-502 (L) (7) (b) and (d) failure to document in the medicalrecord the amount androute of administration of the con venia administeredto the cat on August 18, 2016.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (22) Medical incompetence; lacked sufficient knowledge or skill to a degree likely to endanger the health of the cat as demonstrated by the inability to intubate the cat or place an IV catheter and proceeded with the dental cleaning.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-502 (E) no discharge instructions documented in the medical record on July 15, 2017 or July 27, 2017.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-502 (H) (1) no signed authorization was obtained before general anesthesia was administered or surgery was performed on July 15, 2017 or July 27, 2017.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates fo A.A.C. R3-11-502 (L) (4) no results of an exam documented in the medical record on July 15, 2017.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-502 (L) (b) failure to document in the medical record the amount of the convenia administered to the cat on August 18, 2016.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-502 (L) (d) failure to document in the medical record the route of administration of the convenia administered to the cat on August 18, 2016.
Penalties:
Probation (2 years)
Continuing education (6 hours in anesthesia)
Continuing education (4 hours in client communication)
Continuing education (4 hours in veterinary ethics as applied to client communication)
Civil penalty ($1750)
The primary source for the above summary was obtained as a public record from the Arizona State Veterinary Medical
Examining Board. You are welcome to review the original records and board meeting minutes by clicking the relevant
links. While we endeavor to provide an accurate summary of the complaint, response, investigative reports and board
actions, we encourage you to review the primary sources and come to your own conclusions. In some cases we have also
been able to reach out to individuals with knowledge of specific complaints, and where possible that information
will be included here.