| Complaint: | Complaint 21-136 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Neil Farrington |
| Premises: | Catalina Animal Hospital |
The complainant says she and her sister took their dog to Catalina Animal Hospital because he wasn't able to poop. She had to run home and get money for the exam fee but the sister says she could hear their dog "crying and hollering" in the back; she tried to go back and find out what was going on but wasn't permitted to. When the complainant got back with the money she was told they should both come back in about two hours; when they got back the clinic was closed and the complainant had to knock on the door. The receptionist answered the door and the copmlainant learned their dog was ready to come home; she asked why the dog was so out of it that he didn't seem to even recognize them and was allegedly told by the receptionist the dog was tired from the enema. To her, the dog seemed drugged. After getting the dog back home she called Catalina Animal Hospital back and was told to bring the dog in; they wanted to run blood work and x-rays. She informed them that they only had money for the x-ray or the blood work but not both. The vet "did the x-ray himself" (unsure if that means he ran it there or he covered it without charge?) and found a back injury; she says the dog had no such injury when he went in and that she believes it happened when they were holding the dog down to give him an enema. The dog kept getting worse and she had to take him to the Humane Society for euthanasia; she says it was the hardest thing she's ever done and someone needs to hold Catalina Animal Hospital accountable. She also includes two statements from family and friends wondering why the dog "came home like a vegetable on life support" and wondering why "when we took him in he was playing ball with the other dogs and when they brought him home he was almost dead." One statement specifically mentions that the dog came back so severely medicated after the enema that he didn't even know what was going on. There's also a heartbreaking letter to their dead dog.
Farrington says that he saw the dog when the dog was brought in "serious condition" after being seen by Osterheld (another veterinarian) earlier that day. He says that the complainant agreed to laboratory tests and x-rays as the dog was doing very bad, but he was also told they had declined testing before on financial grounds; he says that the dog was starting to do better when he sent the dog home and that the dog may have survived if the complainant's family had more money to do things. He states that in his experience clients will always fault the veterinarian for their dog getting worse even if the vet had nothing to do with it; he says that the complainant thought her dog just couldn't poop but was really a "ticking time bomb" of a more serious condition.
The Investigative Committee's report was interesting. They said that they're not sure the dog actually had a back issue at all; they wish Farrington had sent them out to be read by a radiologist. (Couldn't the board do that post-facto for the investigation?) The Committee didn't believe the dog's symptoms matched those for disc disease. They also said that the medical records differed between the copies provided by the complainant and the copies provided by Farrington; they said they don't know which one is the real one because the complainant's family also altered their own personal copy of the records. They said that it wasn't that big of a deal because altered medical records didn't change the course of treatment or the outcome for the dog. They also discuss that there may have been a "positioning issue" with the x-rays but Farrington tried his best; they also say that he tried to explain how sick the dog was but the complainants were "too upset" to listen.
For a disturbingly similar case at a different hospital where a dog gets her anal glands expressed, cries out, and drops dead within a day, see 18-29.
| Source: | November 11, 2021 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Neil Farrington | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Gregg Maura | Aye |
| Steven Dow | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | December 12, 2021 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| Proposed By: | Darren Wright |
| Seconded By: | J Greg Byrne |
| Roll Call: | |
| Craig Nausley | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Aye |
| Jane Soloman | Aye |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Melissa Thompson | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Aye |
| Robyn Jaynes | 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.