The complainant tells us that her family's kitten was brought to the Animal League of
Green Valley for neutering. She says that the cat had undescended testicles and that
a veterinarian had recommended just going ahead with surgery. Robinson performed the
surgery and allegedly made three different incisions to find the testicles. She says
her husband was also told that the cat came out of anesthesia three separate times
during the procedure. Their kitten died of cardiac arrest shortly thereafter. She
says that she believes that the trauma of the procedure led to the kitten's death as
he was in good health before. She also says she has lost other pets but never had an
experience like this. She tells us that her kitten was treated as a commodity.
Robinson tells us that he's been performing services for 15 years at the Green Valley
Animal League. He also tells us all animals belong to TALGV (The Animal League of
Green Valley) at the time the surgeries are performed. (I can only assume that this
is mentioned because under Arizona law he couldn't be disciplined by the Board for
performing a procedure on a cat owned by the rescue.) He tells us that some of the
animals do have "perspective [sic] adoptive parents" while others don't. He challenges
much of the complaint as well, stating that a veterinary technician, Lindle Hamilton,
describes the complainant as being "hysterical" regarding what happened to the cat. He
also says that the complainant's husband was very angry, telling him that he was an old
man who should stop killing animals. He says that the cat didn't wake up during the
surgery and that the staff at TALGV will attest to that.
The Investigative Committee stated that the likely cause of the cat's cardiac arrest
and death was an overdose of ketamine. The Committee specifically states that it was
a "toxic dose." They also had concerns with the type of anesthesia used and felt the
medical recordkeeping in this case was troubling. They found Robinson committed two
violations including gross negligence, but the Board rounded gross negligence down to
a violation of failing to provide professionally acceptable procedures. Robinson
was required to take two hours of continuing education in anesthesia and two hours of
continuing education in medical record keeping.
ARS 32-2232 (21) as it relates to AAC R3-11-502 (H) (2) for failure to examine the cat prior to surgery on January 14, 2020; and (3) for failure to record the animal's heart rate and respiration rate in the medical record immediately after giving an animal a general anesthetic and monitored and recorded every 15 minutes while anesthesia is being administered.
ARS 32-2232 (11) Gross negligence; for the disregard of established principles and practices with respect to the overdose of the anesthetic ketamine.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (12) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-501 (1) for failure to provide current professional and scientific knowledge for the use of ketamine and acepromazine as the sole anesthetic for an abdominal surgery.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-502 (H)(2) for failure to document the cat’s examination prior to surgery on January 14, 2020 in the medical record.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-502 (H)(3) for failure to record the animal’s heart rate and respiration rate in the medical record immediately after giving an animal a general anesthetic and monitored and recorded every 15 minutes while anesthesia is being administered.
Penalties:
Probation (1 year)
Continuing education (2 hours in anesthesia)
Continuing education (2 hours in medical record keeping)
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.