Vet struck off for putting down 200 dogs with outdated injections that caused appalling pain

When a veterinarian got investigated after causing the excruciating death of a dog named Bounce, it became clear it was not an isolated incident.

Darren Stevenson contacted the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) after the veterinarian, 89-year-old Hendrie Smith, came out on a house call to help him with his beloved terminally ill German Shepherd, Bounce.

Smith arrived without the required equipment, therefore, had no muzzle, so instead, he used his belt wrap around Bounce’s mouth. The vet had also asked to borrow a pair of pliers to fix a syringe.

The veterinarian, Hendrie Smith then injected the needle through the lung wall towards the heart, and because the area has a dense nerve network it caused extreme pain, and Bounce screamed.

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Darren’s partner at the time, Rachael McRoberts, 34, was present and said:

“It was horrible. The dog was wailing for what seemed like ages. I’ve never heard a dog make a noise like that.”

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons investigated Darren’s complaint and found that Smith, who has been a practicing vet for almost 65 years, used this technique at Valley Veterinary practice in Galston, Ayrshire to euthanize animals using a syringe injection into the heart.

It was found that Smith had used this technique on over 200 animals and admitted to hearing them scream before they died. Hendrie Smith was unreachable so no comments could be obtained.

In Washington, another veterinarian got fired in 2015 after posting pictures of her holding a cat that she killed, presumably because she thought it was feral, with a bow and arrow and boasting about it.

31-Year-old Kristen Lindsey from Brenham, Texas posted a shocking picture of her holding a cat she said to have killed with a bow and arrow with the caption:

“My first bow kill… lol. The only good feral bobcat is one with an arrow through its head. Vet of the year award… gladly accepted.”

After a string of comments Lindsey wrote another comment which read:

“And no I did not lose my job. Psshh. Like someone would get rid of me. I’m awesome.”

Later on the Friday the clinic where Kristen worked released a statement on their Facebook page:

“We are absolutely appalled, shocked, upset, and disgusted by the conduct. We have parted ways with Ms. Lindsey. We do not allow such conduct and we condemn it in the strongest possible manner. Please know that when informed of this we responded swiftly and appropriately and please do not impute this awful conduct to the Washington Animal Clinic or any of its personnel.”

The Texas Veterinary Medical Association also responded with a statement that said:

“We are saddened and disturbed by the unfortunate actions of this individual, and we remind Texas residents that this conduct is not reflective of the veterinary profession or of the veterinarians who strive to embody the words of the veterinarian’s oath every day."

Social media has one undisputed advantage, a word that needs spreading spreads fast and can reach more people, and create a greater awareness.

Similarly to the bow and arrow cat killer veterinarian Kristen, a zoo came under the crossfire when a visitor to a zoo in Nigeria posted the picture of a grossly underweight and malnourished sick Camel on social media.

Tunde Sawyerr paid a visit to the National Children’s Park and Zoo in Abuja with his 3-year-old daughter when he noticed the camel’s terrible condition and decided to post a picture on Twitter.

People were quick to respond and appalled by the state of the animal. The deputy director of wildlife, Aminu Muhammed denied any claims of malnourishment and blamed the state of the animal on a skin infection and adjustment period.

Experts, recognizing the camel as a young dromedary desert camel, goes on to say that they have specific dietary requirements being adapted to life in the desert, commenting that the young animal looked sick and very malnourished.

The young camel’s small hump shows the extent of malnourishment as they tend to store fat in the humps, which serves as reserves when food is scarce. Another situation where social media help to bring justice to our animals.