[News] New Zealand Couple Turns to Expert after Yorkie Dies at Vet Visit

[fasteddie]

A couple is seeking an overseas expert's help after a two-year battle with the Vet Council whom they believed whitewashed the circumstances of their dog's sudden death during surgery.

Angus and Caroline McDonald's yorkshire terrier Bobby died in February 2003 after going to a Wellington vet for a routine dental clean.

The Waikanae couple has since spent about $20,000 in lost earnings and costs fighting the council after complaining.

The couple was at first told by the council that it could not understand how Bobby died and found no specific factors that would have led to his death.

The McDonalds believe Bobby's heart was not monitored and his drug dosage was too high. They believe a letter from the council to the vet, which raised concerns about the drug dosage, was underplayed in a letter to them.

Vet Council registrar Julie Haggie said the McDonalds' complaint was dealt with fairly and thoroughly. She was "very sorry" Bobby had died, but there was no way to confirm the issues raised by the McDonalds had contributed to his death.

In the last play of a long and expensive battle, the McDonalds now hope the expert will back their belief the council owes them an apology for its investigation.

AdvertisementAdvertisementThey expect to hear back this week and say if the opinion backs them they will push for members of the council to resign.

"We trusted they'd investigate, as it was about the death of a dog we loved," said Caroline McDonald. "You can't let people treat you like that."

Angus McDonald said he wanted the council to acknowledge circumstances of the procedure were wrong.

Haggie said the council had nothing to apologise for, as it had done the investigation "fairly and well and is not going to re-litigate it through the news or anywhere else.

"While it's possible a mistake was made it's also possible the dog just died under anaesthetic... what they have perceived and believed is different to what the committee found".

Bobby and another of the McDonalds' dogs, Laddy, were taken to the vet two years ago for the dental clean. When the couple picked up Laddy, who had been given the same medication, his slow recovery led to suspicions the dogs may have been given too much pre-anaesthetic medication.

After looking into the complaint, the council reported the drug dosage was "a little higher than expected but not so much that we would be concerned about overdosage contributing to the anaesthetic problem with Bobby ... we still do not know why Bobby died, and can find no specific factors we believe conclusively contributed to his death".

But in a letter to the vet later sent to the McDonalds, the council said the drug dosage was "unexpectedly high... and the committee recommends that you personally review the appropriate dose ranges for these drugs".

The 4.5kg dog had been given pre-anesthetic drugs of . 09 mg/kg of acetylpromazine and . 02 mg/kg of buprenorphine. In the letter to the McDonalds, the council said the dosages fell into recommended dose rates. In the letter to the vet, it said recommended doses "might be as follows: acetylpromazine . 01mg/ kg-. 05mg/kg and for buprenorphine . 005mg/kg-.01mg/kg".

Haggie said the letter simply offered a recommendation and dosages were up to the vet.

But the McDonalds say Bobby's previous vet records showed he received 10 times the amount of acetylpromazine on the day he died than he did from previous dosages for the the procedure. Another vet they spoke to told them Bobby had effectively been poisoned.

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