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Animal Rights
Calif. Veterinarian Donald Huber Arrested after Dog Dies in Hot Car
Palm Desert veterinary surgeon Donald James Huber was arrested Saturday, August 4, after a dog locked inside his car allegedly had a seizure and died of suspected heat exhaustion, according to Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies. (Palm Desert is about 11 miles east of Palm Springs, California.)
Palm Desert Police Department responded on August 4 at 9:04 a.m. to a 911 call that a dog was locked in a car in the 42000 block of Washington Street. When deputies arrived, they found the car parked at the Desert Veterinary Specialists Animal Hospital at 42-065 Washington St., with an 8-year-old German shepherd locked inside the vehicle without food and water, sheriff’s Sgt. Radek Horkel told reporters. “An officer broke the vehicle window in an attempt to save the dog’s life after not being able to locate the dog’s owner.”
Deputy Joshua Morales said that the dog began seizing and died at the scene, according to The Desert Sun..
As deputies were preparing to tow the car away, the dog’s owner, Douglas James Huber, 51, of Rancho Mirage, arrived and was taken to the police station for questioning, Horkel said. Huber was confirmed by officials to be a veterinarian. He was then booked at the Riverside County Jail in Indio on a preliminary charge of misdemeanor animal endangerment.
Huber has been licensed to practice veterinarian medicine in California since 2004. Before that, he was licensed in Massachusetts since 1987, according to the Sun.. He has no public record of discipline and no criminal record in Riverside County.
California law prohibits leaving an animal in an unattended vehicle under conditions that endanger the health or well-being of the animal. Conditions such as the weather, a lack of ventilation or lack of food or water can subject a person to criminal prosecution, which carries a penalty of up to six months in jail, up to $500 in fines or both if the animal is injured or dies.
Dr. Huber was released just before 1:00 p.m. after posting $2,500 bail, according to booking records. He is scheduled to appear in court on October 10, the Palm Desert Patch reports.
The ongoing investigation of the incident is being conducted by the Palm Desert Police Department Investigative Bureau, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
2nd Tragic Dog Death Caused by Overheating - La Tech's Mascot TechXX, Dies on August 1
Louisiana Tech University is mourning the death of its four-year-old English Bulldog Mascot Tech XX, who died of heatstroke on August 1 after being left outside too long in hot, humid weather at Sexton Animal Health Center in Ruston.
Sources:
http://www.riversidesheriff.org/press/pds12-0804.asp
http://www.jailbase.com/en/arrested/ca-rcsd/2012-08-04/douglas-james-huber-201233896
http://palmdesert.patch.com/articles/dog-locked-in-hot-vehicle-dies-owner-a-vet-arrested.
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Comments
Vets I've known are some of
Vets I've known are some of the worst idiots when it comes to "caring" for animals. By law, idiots who kill dogs like this should never have another dog again.
So he gets charged with a
So he gets charged with a crime when officers of the law get "administrative leave" when they commit the same offense? How DOES the justice system work? Bexar County Sheriff leaves TWO dogs to die in his driveway at home,because he FORGOT they were there..10 days admin leave. Mercer County,Ohio Sheriff leaves his dog in the car- for hours. Can you guess what he got? Yep,administrative leave. The sheriff himself says "When I read the law, I don’t see a crime. I see a tragedy. I don’t see a crime" Grey said. What did the VETERINARIAN do different that HE was charged? Maybe California law is different? Maybe he would be ok if he was an LE officer? Sad for the animals either way.
I was thinking along that
I was thinking along that same line. Vets are just human. He could have gone in the clinic thinking he would just check on an animal that had surgery and found some procedure was needed to help/save the animal and didn't realize how long he had been there. This man has been a vet a long time without seemingly any negative reports, so he has obviously done a lot of good for animals.
Also, the fact that he took his own personal old dog along for a ride is very nice and it was early in the morning. A lot of vets don't even own a pet.
I think this was an unfortunate and tragic mistake, but we have all made mistakes with our pets at some time, if we have owned them long enough. A crime requires intent and I don't see that was the case here.
I think he and the vet for the football mascot in Louisiana should team up and launch a nationwide campaign warning people about how quickly animals overheat--without discussing the tragedies they have just experienced. It would certainly make a lot more sense than sending this vet to jail. I'm sure he is probably suffering enough and he is undoubtedly in grief for what happened to a dog he must have loved deeply for eight years.