Miami-Dade police arrested a man on Monday for practicing veterinary medicine without a licenseafter the tragic outcome of a surgery that ended with the death of six newborn puppies.
Richard Andino39, was illegally practicing as a veterinarian at his home in South Miami Heights, and his arrest occurred months after The puppies of a dog who had a caesarean section performed at home diedat Christmas 2023, he reported America TeVé.
According to the police investigation, the defendant contacted the owners of Channel, a mixed-breed dog, via text messages and introduced himself as a licensed veterinarian.
On Christmas Eve, the couple took their pet, who was in labor, to Andino’s house and left her there, even though they found it suspicious that it was a home and not a clinic. But the fake veterinarian promised them that he would take Channel to a clinic to perform the operation.
“Because their dog was in labor, they decided to trust Andino, who was dressed in a nurse’s uniform,” the police report said. The dog’s owners paid her $1,500 in advance..
The day after the surgery, Andino wrote to Channel’s owners to inform them that she only had three puppies of the six she was expecting. Suspecting something was wrong, the couple returned to the defendant’s residence to look for the dog and the surviving puppies.
When they confronted him and asked him where his clinic was located, the man replied that he performed this type of surgery frequently and that the operation had been carried out at his home due to the holiday.
According to the police report, Andino said he had a room in his house that was set up for this type of procedure.
Back at their home, Channel’s owners noticed that the dogs were not breathing and had to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on one of them.
“During this time, yellow and orange discharge came from the puppy’s nose and mouth,” the report said. “All of the puppies later died.”
On Tuesday, a day after his arrest, Andino appeared in court and was charged with practicing veterinary medicine without a license.
“Six puppies died because he performed a cesarean section on the dog and said he was a licensed veterinarian, which he is not,” said the judge in the case, who imposed a $2,500 bond and prohibited him from contacting the victims.
The Department of Services for Animals Miami-Dade County advises county residents to check in advance whether veterinarians and companies offering such services are properly licensed, to avoid a similar situation, the report said. America TeVé.
