| Complaint: | Complaint 18-80 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Maria Zayas |
| Premises: | Low Cost Spay and Neuter |
The complainant begins right out of the gate stating that Zayas (though he gets the name wrong) "brutally neutered" and gave "Feline Vaccinations" to his very young cat. The complaint goes on with a variety of accusations about the entire practice and Zayas in particular. He also mentions some letter allegedly from a former employee of the clinic detailing animal abuse and a rate of surgery that he claims 30 different veterinarians have said were horrified about. He concludes with how he took his cat to another vet who found a variety of problems including an upper respiratory infection and ring worm, which the compainant says that he has on his hands now. There's also a statement that the problems affect both the clinic and the Bullhead City Animal Shelter.
Zayas actually responds in a very well thought out reply particularly given the tenor of the complaint. She notes that the cat was slightly under the normal weight, but as the alternative was to send the cat back to the shelter for another week or more. She also notes that at the shelter if a cat gets sick it tends to get euthanized, and given her experience in doing neuters on kittens, she thought it would be better to try rather than see it go back to the shelter and potentially never make it out again. She also notes the disease issues at the shelter and that a disclaimer has to be signed just to adopt an animal from them in the first place, and that it's quite possible the cat actually had health problems from the shelter environment. She also states that she's sorry for all the problems the complainant has experienced.
The Investigative Committee concurred that it's quite likely for a cat to get sick in a shelter and that Zayas handled the situation appropriately. One wonders if Zayas is inadvertently catching outrage perhaps more applicable to the cat's shelter environment.
| Source: | June 6, 2018 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Maria Zayas | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Christine Butkiewicz | Aye |
| Donald Noah | Absent |
| Tamara Murphy | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | August 8, 2018 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| Proposed By: | Robyn Jaynes |
| Seconded By: | Christina Bertch-Mumaw |
| Roll Call: | |
| Christina Bertch-Mumaw | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Absent |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Julie Young | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Aye |
| Robyn Jaynes | Aye |
| Sarah Heinrich | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
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.