| Complaint: | Complaint 22-65 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Lai-Ting Torres |
| Premises: | Arizona Humane Society Marge Wright Veterinary Clinic |
The complainant lists a variety of concerns about the Arizona Humane Society's conduct regarding one of her cats; it's difficult to follow because so little of the complainant's account and that of the remainder of the report match up. In summary, it appears that the complainant and her mother attempted to look after many of the stray cats in their neighborhood, routinely bringing them into the Arizona Humane Society for spay/neuter operations; she appears to view their actions in this case as a betrayal of not just her family but the neighborhood cats, and one's left with the impression this was the final straw. (One's left with the suspicion that the complaint was actually written by the complainant's child because of issues relating to English proficiency, so consider that when reading the complaint and the summary; the "mom" is likely the formal complainant.)
She notes that one such cat, like a child to her mom, was dropped off on October 27, 2021, and died a few days later. It appears that the complainant may not have gotten a full picture about the cat (or was not given information in a way to meaningfully give informed consent). The cat was reported to have breathing problems, but the complainant says that the staff told her the vet was fine with doing the procedure. At discharge she says that she was told the cat was doing well and had stomatitis, which could cause a problem with eating later in life but not now; she says she wasn't given any discharge paperwork.
The cat appears to have never really recovered from the surgery, not being able to jump on furniture, appearing to be dizzy, and never eating again. The complainant called AHS and staff allegedly told her the cat would not be expected to be able to eat because the cat was in terrible pain from stomatitis and inflammation (contrary to the cat's condition just before going in). She also says the staff member told her that the cat shouldn't have undergone surgery because the added pain would make her stop eating. She relates serious issues trying to even get paperwork on the cat, and after taking it up with a manager, she says they offered to help with the cremation. She was also told that the staff told her to immediately take the cat to an emergency clinic, which she denies she was told. She was also told that they were no longer welcome at the Arizona Humane Society.
The complainant wonders if the AHS felt they could simply ignore or disregard her because she isn't from this country and feels like she can't file a complaint. She concludes by stating that it wasn't worth the cat's life just to have a spay procedure done; they could have just kept the cat indoors when she was in heat and "she was better off with her ovaries." She recounts the amount of help she and her family have provided the cats in the neighborhood in conjunction with the Arizona Humane Society, noting that when they call the city or the AHS to come out, they simply don't care; it's up to people in the neighborhood to bring these cats into their homes and into the vet. She says that her mother no longer has the emotional reserve to keep helping the cats, and she recounts another time where an attempt to spay and neuter a large number of the cats in the neighborhood via the Arizona Humane Society resulted in most of them dropping dead from panleukopenia (feline parvovirus). In the end, she concludes that even the Arizona Humane Society is just in it for the money.
Torres' response begins by stating the cat was brought to the Arizona Humane Society's Marge Wright Veterinary Clinic, which she describes as a low-cost, high-quality, high-volume spay and neuter clinic. She notes significant dental disease with the cat and asked staff to call the complainant, who is Spanish-speaking, as she doesn't know Spanish well enough to convey the information. She says the staff member told the complainant that the cat had an underlying viral condition but that the complainant wanted to proceed anyway; she explained that the symptoms may worsen after the procedure. She also recommended the regular vet see the cat for stomatitis. According to Arizona Humane Society records the complainant reported the cat was doing fine at home, eating and drinking. The complainant allegedly called back a month later to report the cat was dead; she claims the records show the complainant said the cat died in June but the surgery was done in October (the complaint submitted to the board explicitly states October as the date of the surgery and mentions the cat died days later).
The Findings of Fact take the Arizona Humane Society report at face value, claiming that the complainant didn't know the correct month the cat would have died in; they also state that the complainant was still looking for more money to help out other cats in the neighborhood until having a falling out over questions about the cat. They do note that the Arizona Humane Society provided a copy of the cat's medical records (a month later), which apparently disproves the notion that they were hiding the records from her. The Investigative Committee appears to have had no formal discussion and dismissed with no violations.
| Source: | May 5, 2022 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Lai-Ting Torres | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Gregg Maura | Aye |
| Justin McCormick | Aye |
| Steven Dow | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | June 6, 2022 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Craig Nausley |
| Seconded By: | Jessica Creager |
| Roll Call: | |
| Craig Nausley | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Absent |
| Jane Soloman | Aye |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Absent |
| Melissa Thompson | Recused |
| 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.