A Richmond dog owner is suing a local veterinarian after he botched a surgery on her German shepherd pup Magnum.
Shelley Smith is seeking the return of almost $14,000 through the small claims court after her dog was treated by Dr. Varinder Dabri, of the Dear Animal Hospital at Blundell Centre about two years ago.
Smith, who runs her own dog-training business, took 14-week-old Magnum to Dabri after the dog ate some rocks in her driveway and kept throwing up.
Dabri performed surgery on the pup and, after an overnight stay at the clinic, Magnum went home with Smith.
Less than two days later, however, Smith said her pet had “explosive diarrhea,” couldn’t keep any food down and was walking around in circles. Beside herself with worry for Magnum, and having lost faith in Dabri, she took the dog to the Vancouver Animal Hospital, where she was told her dog was “dying,” and subsequently to Canada West, a Vancouver-based critical care veterinary specialist.
A surgeon at Canada West operated immediately on Magnum and saved his life, but, inevitably, it came at a cost of thousands of more dollars for the surgery and after-care.
Smith claims Dabri called her, first to pass Magnum’s condition off as “complications,” before offering to help pay for the sky-rocketing costs of keeping the dog healthy. It’s an offer that Dabri told the News was never made.
“After I got the bill for the second surgery at Canada West, I called (Dabri) but I was continually told by his receptionist that he was busy or wasn’t there,” said Smith.
“I even pretended to be someone else to test those excuses and, low and behold, he was there. He ran away when I turned up to ask for the payment.”
Shortly afterward, Smith filed a complaint with the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia (CVBC) about the work carried out by Dabri.
And, about 20 months later, after communications back and forth with the CVBC, Smith received a letter from the governing body, detailing admissions made by Dabri to its investigation committee and the action being taken against him.
According to the CVBC’s letter, Dabri agreed to submissions that:
* He failed to manage a case of rock digestion in a puppy in a competent manner;
* he failed to perform intestinal surgery in a competent manner;
* the medical records are incomplete and inadequate;
* the radiographs were not properly labeled;
* he failed to refer the case when the owner requested and in a timely and appropriate manner.
The CVBC’s letter continued that Dabri must “refer non-elective abdominal surgery until remedial continuing education is completed…take continuing education that the (investigation committee) feels provide him with skills and knowledge, pay a fine and pay 50 per cent of the costs of the investigation.”
According to the CVBC, that continuing education includes six hours of classroom education and a hands-on course of core surgery procedures.
When contacted by the News, Dabri said one of the courses he might have to undertake is in Las Vegas.
Dabri, however, referred to the medical issues suffered by Magnum after he performed surgery as “complications” that can happen any time.
He added that Smith was negligent herself in “letting” her dog eat rocks and that if the News was to “do a story” on him, then it should “do a story” on all the other veterinarians in the city who have made similar “mistakes.”
Dabri added that his insurance company is currently looking into Smith’s small claims court suit.
A search on the CVBC’s disciplinary registrar notes that Dabri has agreed to refer non-elective abdominal surgery until remedial continuing education is completed. However, the site doesn’t explain why.
A person speaking on behalf of CVBC told the News that such brief information on errant vets is fairly standard for professional bodies.
The continuing education agreed to by many veterinarians who come before the investigation committee “fills a gap they may have” in their skills, according to the CVBC.
Apparently, there are fewer than two complaints per week, on average, lodged with the CVBC, out of 1,500 practising veterinarians in the province.
Despite the scant information on disciplined veterinarians on the CVBC site, Smith urged anyone with concerns about using a particular clinic to check out the website.
Magnum, said Smith, is still on the road to recovery, almost two years on from the initial surgery.
“He’s doing OK, but I’ve had to put an insane amount of time into him,” she said.
“He’s still very skittish, underweight and is actually a different colour from his siblings.”
Smith has been told that Magnum may still suffer complications in the future and has been told to expect more expensive vet bills.
“I can’t get insurance now because of what happened.”
