A dog was left on its own to die overnight in a vets that was advertised as providing 24-hour care.
Penny and Anthony O’Callaghan took their beloved Kiwi to the Riverside Veterinary Practice in Spalding after they feared he was suffering from an urgent stomach condition.
The vet was able to carry out a successful emergency operation on the 11-year-old German Shepherd–Wolfhound cross.
But he was then left to recuperate from the surgery on his own for more than seven hours overnight.
Kiwi was found dead the following morning, leaving the O’Callaghan’s devastated.
Elizabeth Law, the vet who carried out the operation, was reprimanded by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons following the dog’s death.
They said it was a ‘serious mistake that she made in failing to ensure that Kiwi was checked or monitored overnight’.
The dog’s owners told a disciplinary hearing that one of the reasons that they chose her practice was that it advertised itself as a 24/7 operation.
At the time of the incident, the Riverside Practice stated on its Facebook page: “24-hour care is provided at our practice, with our vets.”
A Royal College disciplinary panel said Miss Law – who had been a vet for nine years – had made a ‘serious mistake’ which resulted in a ‘serious lapse of clinical judgement’.
However, the practice was cleared of dishonestly claiming that it offered 24/7 service.
The vet argued that this simply meant vets were available to be called out at any hour, rather than they were permanently staffed around the clock.
Mrs O’Callaghan said: “We have been pet owners for 20 years and we know all the right questions to ask when we sign up to a surgery.
“The crucial thing is that my pets can be offered 24-hour care.
“Riverside advertised that they provide care 24/7, but Kiwi was left by himself after a major operation.”
She believes that if a vet had been there to look after Kiwi, he would not have died that night.
“I was re-assured that everything was successful, and I slept peacefully that night – I couldn’t wait to wake up and call Riverside to check on him and bring him home,” she said.
“They called me the following morning to tell me he had died overnight. I was devastated and angry.
“I was absolutely heartbroken, and I am disappointed that Riverside have been let off the hook without any serious action being taken.
“It makes me very concerned that other vets offer this service but in reality it is only 24-hour response – not 24-hour treatment.
“We trusted the vets completely and left our pet in their care.”
The disciplinary panel was told that Kiwi’s owners had taken the dog to the Riverside practice during the evening of November 7, 2017.
Both of them suspected that he was suffering from a condition called ‘bloat’ – where the stomach fills with gas and can become bloated.
The 11-year-old dog was treated and operated that evening before a nurse made a final check on him at around 12.30am.
“(She) felt he was stable and could remain on fluids until the following morning,” the judgement, which was published last week, says. “Kiwi was left alone overnight, during which time no visits or checks were made to assess and/or monitor his condition.”
Kiwi was found dead in his kennel at 7.45am the following morning. Miss Law rang the O’Callaghan’s to break the bad news.
“Mrs O’Callaghan asked if Kiwi had been on his own when he died, and (Miss Law) said yes,” the judgement states. “Mrs O’Callaghan was extremely upset and could not continue the call.
“Mr O’Callaghan was very upset and angry at what had occurred and asked (Miss Law) why she had left a dog alone after life-threatening surgery. She said they were a small practice and they did not have the staff.
“He said that he did not care and that they advertise themselves as providing 24-hour care.”
Professor John Williams, an expert witness at the hearing, said that Miss Law’s decision to leave Kiwi alone “fell below the standards of a reasonably competent veterinary surgeon”.
The panel agreed with this assessment.
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Riverside owner Julia Creese was also cleared of any wrongdoing surrounding the death. It ruled that the practice had not advertised itself as offering 24/7 staffing.
A written statement by Mrs Creese said: “Although we do offer a 24-hour emergency service at this practice, rather than using a designated out of hours provider, we are not a hospital and don’t have staff on site overnight.
“Details of the level of cover that we provide is available to read in the waiting room on our practice noticeboard.
“We did not advertise the practice to have staff on site 24 hours a day and I do not know why the O’Callaghans thought this was the case.”
This content was originally published here.