Vet accused of animal abuse
Athens, GA (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Jan 19, 2006
County: Clarke

Disposition: Not Charged

Abuser names unreleased

Athens-Clarke Animal Control officers will launch an investigation into an allegation a veterinarian has committed acts of animal cruelty at his Athens clinic.

Animal Control Superintendent Patrick Rives said officers will begin the probe by interviewing the unnamed person who on Jan. 19 complained the vet was "hanging, kicking and slapping dogs when they are uncooperative."

"Obviously, we have to get the actual details" from the person who called Animal Control to complain, Rives said, "but I'd rather not comment on what we'll do from there, because it will be an active investigation."

Although the complaint is nearly 2 weeks old, animal control officers did not begin an immediate investigation because they first needed to find out if they had jurisdiction.

Licensed veterinarians are regulated by the state Board of Veterinary Medicine, but on Monday Athens-Clarke County Chief Assistant Solicitor Kevin Gonzalez told Rives that local animal control officers can investigate vets for alleged violations of the state Animal Protection Act.

"I think certainly by virtue of being a vet, you are not exempt from the laws against animal cruelty," Gonzalez said.

Despite his opinion, Gonzalez referred Rives to Assistant County Attorney Jim Davis to further clarify the jurisdictional issue.

"The solicitor's office prosecutes animal cruelty cases, but since we're a county agency, we're confined by the county charter, which defines what we can do," Rives said.

Davis on Monday gave Rives the go-ahead to investigate the vet.

"We're going to look into the allegation, but we want to proceed cautiously" in case other agencies are investigating the complaint, he said, "but we feel pretty confident there's no problem with us looking into it as well."

Kara Sinkule, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Cathy Cox, who oversees state licensing boards, said the Veterinary Medicine board had not received any recent complaints about Athens vets.

References

• « GA State Animal Cruelty Map

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