January 1, 2008

Happy New Year to friends of vetabusenetwork.com! 

I have been privileged to work in this particular area of consumer advocacy now for eight years and have learned so much about the very real, very serious problem consumers face when trusting a veterinarian.  

To date, I am the only defendant that I know of facing the possibility of a permanent injunction against future criticism. I believe that this would involve the broad deprivation of my First Amendment rights, which I also believe would have to be carried out by court in order to enforce prior restraint, if that is even legally possible. If it is, needless to say, I will fight any and all attempts to take away these rights, not only for myself but for anyone facing such outrageous demands by veterinarians to control what is said about them and their treatment of our companion animals. Such enforcement of a permanent injunction against future speech would place everyone at risk of ever being able to criticize anybody or anything again, and allow monied individuals and businesses to silence any consumer voices that they can get a lawyer to intimidate into that silence at any cost. Consumers filing complaints, speaking out to legislative committees, putting up gripe sites, even filing lawsuits in small claims court would be at risk from bully veterinarians determined to control, down to the last detail, what could and could not be said about them.

Ironically, some vets who obviously ignore the laws that govern their own profession think nothing of displaying shameless self-importance in using their considerable resources and the legal system to punish and silence those who dare to speak out to government agencies and other parties interested in the protection of companion animals. In other words, a vet could arbitrarily decide that the rules don't apply to him, while simultaneously running to his lawyers to "enforce" laws on others. It is the height of arrogance, and hopefully actions like that will be exposed to the public with every new lawsuit that is filed by vets against victims. 

As lawsuits proceed, the public will have a chance to see and hear in detail, through public records, trial testimony, and other sources, how some of these vets have repeatedly breached the standard of care, ignored principles such as informed consent and proper surgical protocols, and engaged in disgraceful record-keeping practices, all the while arrogantly continuing to blame their own clients for what happened to their pets. Again, the public can only benefit by the exposure of such arrogance -- a side they likely don't normally see in the vet's facility, where their blind trust can put them and their pets at risk while the vet enjoys the many benefits of that blind trust. 

But when a vet files a lawsuit to silence a client who is critical of the treatment provided, he puts himself and his practice on public display, which we hope will be a great boon to consumers seeking to educate themselves on what can happen to their pets behind closed doors.

We hope that publicizing these lawsuits will result in two primary benefits to consumers:

1)  Help others who may be facing the arrogance and bully tactics used by these vets and their lawyers to fight these SLAPP suits, whether or not your state has laws in place to protect against such attacks; as well as inform pet owners and guardians to help them do everything possible to protect their pets in a veterinary setting, to recognize red flags and warning signs of possible substandard care and statute violations BEFORE a potentially tragic chain of events has a chance to even to be set in motion.

2)  As a result of harassing SLAPP suits, savvy consumers may want to add a new criterion for choosing a veterinarian by researching who has filed a retaliatory lawsuit against their own clients -- perhaps by choosing a vet who does not use the legal system to go after clients who have used their experiences to improve conditions for others? Perhaps by choosing a vet who does not go after their own clients as punishment for exposing their allegedly incompetent, negligent treatment of a companion animal? As always, it is the consumer's choice to decide who cares for their pets. If they respect, admire, and trust vets who apparently victimize and re-victimize their own targets, then they should choose vets who do whatever they want behind closed doors without regard to standard of care, then blame others for their actions, and will stop at nothing to get their way while portraying themselves as the "real" victims. If they choose to support such vets whose goal is to punish and permanently silence criticism, then these lawsuits will allow the public to evaluate a vet's behavior and statements in public and on the record, and then decide if that is somebody to whom they want to entrust their pet, their money, and their trust. 

In short, when veterinarians expose themselves by filing lawsuits to silence their own victims, the public's learning curve with regard to what can happen to their pets in a veterinary setting is greatly accelerated. The public will find out very quickly what can and does go on behind closed doors in a vet's office, and how that can adversely affect the health and well-being of their pets in ways they may have never thought possible...

In the coming year and beyond, we will do everything possible to protect the right to speak up, speak out, and let our elected officials and regulatory agencies know about any form of perceived abuse, incompetence, malpractice, and negligence that puts our companion animals at risk from all the above plus the apathy and ineptitude of the systems supposedly in place to protect the public. As defective as the veterinary board system is in holding some of these licensees accountable for their actions, it is, unfortunately, the only system we have. For example, in Texas, the state board dismisses 92 percent of the complaints filed. This site will continue to monitor the Texas board.  We support others who are also watching those who are charged with enforcing the statutes of the Veterinary Practice Act. Many thanks to those who are already providing this valuable public service.

Best wishes in the new year for the friends, family, and supporters of all victims of veterinary neglect, incompetence, and malpractice. Many, many thanks for your concern and friendship now and into 2008 as we continue to fight these veterinarians who are focused on achieving their apparent goal of total control of consumer voices -- written and spoken, online and off, now and in the future. We are happy to say that that will never happen. No matter what, there will be always those who will continue to tell their stories and share information regarding what they have every right and reason to believe was substandard care and harmful actions toward their pets. And if any of us should have our rights destroyed, there will always be someone else to tell our stories, to tell what was done to our pets AND then to us -- at the hands of the same individuals. Then those same vets can, if they choose, turn their attention, their time, their money, and their lawyers to going after new voices in an attempt to silence THEM, only to find out what most people are smart enough to learn at an early age -- that you can't control everyone. To that end, I will reiterate what I wrote years ago in tribute to our companions who similarly suffered at the hands of these bullies:

 We will never forget. 

We will never be silenced.

 - Julie Catalano and Suki

Founder, vetabusenetwork.com