Vet reprimanded for taking cat home without owner's permission instead of putting it down

7 October 2024, 19:53

A vet who took home a cat she was ordered to euthanise has been found guilty of disgraceful conduct.

Dr Janine Parody, who had already put three animals down that morning, told a hearing she could 'not face another euthanasia' and thought the “happy” cat could be cured.

Without the permission of the cat’s owner, Dr Parady took the cat home for this treatment.

She told a disciplinary hearing the owner did not want the cat, thought it would be dead and would be “none the wiser”.

Dr Parody sedated the eight-month-old cat and castrated it before taking it home, all without the owner's knowledge.

The cat's owner told authorities she “grieved for his little soul.”

The woman, identified as SM, told the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) tribunal she was “elated” to learn her cat survived before being told she owed the vet £480 for its treatment. She paid the fee.

SM told the hearing she had rescued the cat, named Shadow, but decided it had to be euthanised before it was “very sick” with MRSA and had suffered facial injuries.

Dr Parody was due to put Shadow down at Castle Veterinary Group in Framlingham, Suffolk, on December 20 2021, but took him home to care for him over Christmas.

This only came to light when a colleague asked Dr Parody why there was no record of the procedure.

Dr Parady admitted what she had done and SM returned to collect her cat on December 31.

Sadly, by February the cat was still poorly and was put down.

SM told the hearing that Dr Parody, who was under extreme work pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she believed the vet wanted to keep Shadow for herself.

But Dr Parody said: “I had already done back-to-back euthanasias that morning as mentioned and upon seeing a happy young cat, I just could not face another euthanasia.

“I think it is important to say here that even though at that point I had been a vet for over 10 years, euthanasias are never easy and you always ‘take them home’ with you.”

Dr Parody added: “I understand that my decision not to euthanise Shadow and instead to treat him without the consent of Ms SM was wrong.

“It was a decision I made on a very, very busy and stressful day and when I thought the cat had no owner but I fully appreciate that was no excuse.”

She argued she acted “with the welfare of the cat at the centre of my decisions.”

The hearing concluded Dr Parody had acted with the best intentions but “made a series of very poor decisions”.

They added: “Dr Parody made incorrect assumptions about the lack of ownership of Shadow, based on conversations from other members of staff, rather than clinical records.”