You trust them with your loved ones when they are sick, but some say when they went to a local vet clinic they left with their pets in worse shape.
Some are accusing a Vancouver veterinary clinic--St. Francis 24-hour Animal Hospital--of practicing bad medicine with deadly consequences.
Veterinarian Michael Baker has been disciplined twice by the Washington State Veterinary Board of Directors and runs the emergency clinic, which has 22 Better Business Bureau complaints.
One of those complaints comes from Tad Adamski, whose bird, Abby, died 12 hours after he took her to St. Francis for what he believed was a minor illness.
"I basically just broke down in tears," said Adamski. "It broke my heart--it really did."
Adamski said his 9-year-old bird went in for a bacterial infection and came out with a head injury.
"She should have lived 70 years easy," said Adamski.
Michael Jurhs says his puppy died only three days after visiting the clinic, noting that the hospital's diagnosis was "completely wrong."
"He had a major lung issue going on and the fact that they didn't pick up on that was rather alarming," said Jurhs of his dog Allistar.
Another pet owner, Tracie Thompson, echoed the story, saying her dog Mia was misdiagnosed with the Parvo virus despite a recent immunization.
Instead of paying St. Francis $1,800 to treat her she called the humane society where she was told Mia only need a little rest.
The Washington State Board of Health confirmed there have been a lot of complaints for the Vancouver pet hospital, including six cases presently open.
"What we have to do is look at what we can prove--is there evidence that's provable, does the proof show they have violated a law or a standard of care or professional conduct," said Donn Moyer, spokesperson for the board of health.
When contacted, the veterinarian in question, Michael Baker, provided a tour of his facilities and refuted the statements from pet owners.
