The Tails of Woe are somewhat-opinionated summaries of complaints filed with the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board. These summaries detail the questionable practices and outcomes of a dysfunctional veterinary profession as well as the government's continuing failure to do anything about it. You don't have to take our word for it as the original documents are there for you to view.
The primary sources for this information are public records obtained directly from the Board pursuant to Section 32-2237 (H) of the Arizona Revised Statutes. The summaries have been extracted from our own internal notes and will likely contain at least some formatting or typographical issues. If you'd like to learn the story of how we got these, read We Want Information. If you like it, you may want to read some of the other articles in our nascent Library as a primer.
While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, there is always the possibility we've overlooked something. The actual records are linked from each summary so you can make up your own mind on the facts, and we've also attempted to link or reference outside sources as relevant. The records and board orders are also available to browse in our Archives.
Our Tails of Woe aren't about individual complainants and veterinarians. They're about the intersection of an entire profession and its regulatory system, the tendencies and trends they indicate on the whole, and what that means for everyone who has a pet. If you have the time, I'd encourage you to read every single summary and every single public record, then ask yourself if all is right within their world. And remember that most of the pets listed in these complaints did not have a good time, and many of them no longer have their lives.
You can view the records grouped by fiscal year, premises, or respondent.
| Fiscal Year 2018 | 124 complaints |
| Fiscal Year 2019 | 91 complaints |
| Fiscal Year 2020 | 123 complaints |
| Fiscal Year 2021 | 157 complaints |
| Fiscal Year 2022 | 142 complaints |
| By Premises | 637 complaints |
| By Respondent | 637 complaints |