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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / February 2006Kitten Goes Undercover in Vet Scam Probe
Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789  Signatureannoyed@net.spammers Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl "Burt's owner, Raymond Reid, contacted authorities after the dog survived a botched operation. In hindsight, he said, he should have been suspicious of a veterinarian who only made house calls and treated animals at an undisclosed location. " <boggle> Er....Yeah...I guess so! > Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. > http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 > Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. > http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 (quote) Authorities played a videotape at the news conference showing the defendant saying the kitten could be neutered for $135. (end quote) Uh, $135???? Just how dumb were these pet owners, anyway? Chak SignatureIn science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms. --Stephen Jay Gould >> Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. >> http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Uh, $135???? Just how dumb were these pet owners, anyway? That is an average price in some areas if they have the wake up shot with it Remember that was in New York ain't nothing cheap up there >>> Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. >>> http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > That is an average price in some areas if they have the wake up shot > with it Remember that was in New York ain't nothing cheap up there But if he's doing it out of his car, wouldn't you expect a lower rate? And if they never noticed he's doing it out of his car, then the dumb label applies anyway. Chak SignatureIn science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms. --Stephen Jay Gould > > Uh, $135???? Just how dumb were these pet owners, anyway? > > > That is an average price in some areas if they have the wake up shot with it > Remember that was in New York ain't nothing cheap up there This is true. I remember that my local vet wanted to change me $140 to have Roxy spayed. The shelter where I adopted her would do it for free, since that came with the adoption (but she had a cold when I took her home, so they couldn't do it then). But the shelter was 50 miles away, and I didn't want to subject her to that long a drive. Finally, there was a spay/neuter drive in my area, and participating vets would do it for $20 over the period of a month. I jumped at that chance! Joyce > > > Uh, $135???? Just how dumb were these pet owners, anyway? > > > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > a spay/neuter drive in my area, and participating vets would do it for > $20 over the period of a month. I jumped at that chance! I'll be paying considerably more than that to have Cendrillon spayed tomorrow! Of course, in Los Angeles, as in New York, nothing is cheap. My vet is more or less just around the corner from where I live, and I trust them, so I figure it's worth it. (The clinic is open extended hours, which may be why they are expensive - they close at eight P.M. on weekdays, three P. M. on Saturdays, and noon on Sundays.) But I wish I could collect from the low-life who moved out of his apartment across the hall and left her behind! (Especially when he apparently had the money to pay for her declawing.) > I wish I could collect from the low-life who > moved out of his apartment across the hall and left her > behind! (Especially when he apparently had the money to pay > for her declawing.) He would probably say that he didn't want to interfere with her "natural desires" by having her spayed. And he wouldn't see a bit of irony in the fact that he had her declawed. Good luck with her surgery! Joyce > > I wish I could collect from the low-life who > > moved out of his apartment across the hall and left her [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > "natural desires" by having her spayed. And he wouldn't see a bit of > irony in the fact that he had her declawed. "Natural desires" or not, a female cat in heat can be VERY noisy (I just thank God she's not Siamese)! She didn't yowl constantly - she'd nap for a while, go eat a bit, then start making her desires known - mostly at night. This place is not exactly sound-proofed, so I kept expecting neighbors to come knocking at my door! > Good luck with her surgery! Thanks. I called the vet this afternoon - she came through the surgery just fine (and they scaled her teeth, too, while she was under the anesthetic). Their policy is to keep them overnight - probably just as well, in a household with two cats who are not yet entirely reconciled to each other's exitence. (Although the hisses and growls when chasing each other have pretty well disappeared - I don't think it will take very long before they are best buds.) > I called the vet this afternoon - she came through > the surgery just fine (and they scaled her teeth, too, while > she was under the anesthetic). Yay!! I have to get Roxy's teeth cleaned - she has a bit of bad breath. It's not horrible, but her breath a lot stronger than Smudge's or Licky's. I suppose she's more susceptible to mouth problems since she has herpes. I've been putting it off because I'm just really scared to have her put under anesthetic. I know that's not completely rational - most cats come through it fine (and she did get spayed as a kitten so I know she's not allergic to anesthesia). But I'd be devastated if she died under anesthesia, just to have her teeth cleaned. Yeah, I know it's important to do. <kick self gently> Joyce >> > I wish I could collect from the low-life who > moved out of his >> apartment across the hall and left her > behind! (Especially when he [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > each other have pretty well disappeared - I don't think it will take > very long before they are best buds.) I'm so glad to hear she came through the surgery ok. Thank you for taking such good care of her, Evelyn. Best wishes and purrs, Polonca and Soncek >> Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. >> http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Chak Photo of the handsome crimefighting tabby at: http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/61655.htm If you need to get a registration code for the NY Post, go to bugmenot.com Signatureannoyed@net.spammers Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl > Photo of the handsome crimefighting tabby at: > http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/61655.htm > If you need to get a registration code for the NY Post, go to bugmenot.com Ooooo! Thank you for the bugmenot site! I hate having to register for news sites. In fact, I had clicked on the nypost link above, and then closed my newsreader before going over to read the story on the web. But when I saw that I had to register, I got annoyed and came back to the newsgroup to find your post and chew you out for not warning us about the registration. And then saw that it was my own fault for not reading your entire post. :) Not to mention that you offered such a fabulous tip as bugmenot. (Definitely going to be a well-used bookmarked site for me!) Fred is indeed very handsome. So glad they got the fake vet off the streets! But they sure took a risk with the poor kitty, didn't they? If this guy was known to be a fake, wasn't it dangerous to put Fred in his hands at all? I'm glad the fake vet didn't panic and run off with poor Fred, to do who knows what. Joyce > > Photo of the handsome crimefighting tabby at: > > http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/61655.htm [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >fabulous tip as bugmenot. (Definitely going to be a well-used bookmarked >site for me!) Glad you took the time to re-read and not chew me out :) I get pissed at the registration sites too, so I try to remember to post a bugmenot note when quoting from a nosy site. I might forget because I could be citing a site that I'm still logged in with by a cookie so I didn't get prompted (I didn't with the Post site - still logged in from a previous cookie) to log in. There are also browser extensions that allow you to right-click on a nosy registration page and launch a bugmenot page with logons for the page you're browsing. Note that you need pop-up blockers turned off to allow the new window to open. A bugmenot plugin for the Mozilla Firefox browser is at: http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot/ A bugmenot plugin for the Internet Explorer browser is at: http://www.unixdaemon.net/ie_plugins.html, scroll down the page and get it at http://www.unixdaemon.net/zips/bugmenot.exe >Fred is indeed very handsome. So glad they got the fake vet off the >streets! But they sure took a risk with the poor kitty, didn't they? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Joyce Purrhaps if he took the kitty the fake vet would have been nailed instantly. ;) If someone like that harmed our Cat Five, they would find out very quickly how well certain products designed by John Moses Browning can purrform when called into service. Signatureannoyed@net.spammers Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl > There are also browser extensions that allow you to > right-click on a nosy registration page and launch a bugmenot page with > logons for the page you're browsing. Note that you need pop-up blockers > turned off to allow the new window to open. That's what the control key is for. :) If you hold Ctrl down while launching another window in the same browser, it'll disable the pop-up blocker for that one function. > A bugmenot plugin for the Mozilla Firefox browser is at: > http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot/ Thanks! That should make things even easier. > If someone like that harmed our Cat Five, they would find out very quickly > how well certain products designed by John Moses Browning can purrform when > called into service. This required a quick Google to find out just what kind of business Mr Browning was in. :) Joyce > > There are also browser extensions that allow you to > > right-click on a nosy registration page and launch a bugmenot page with [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >launching another window in the same browser, it'll disable the pop-up >blocker for that one function. Yep, I've used that too in IE. I'm just getting used to Firefox as well and things like popup blocking, Bugmenot and Roboform work differently there than in IE. > > A bugmenot plugin for the Mozilla Firefox browser is at: > > http://roachfiend.com/archives/2005/02/07/bugmenot/ [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Joyce I love the styling of the Colt 1911, and have ever since I was a little kid. I just hope that Colt is still around in 2011 for a centennial commemorative to add to our arsenal^Wcollection. It's truly the '57 Chevy of handguns - timeless classic beauty and an endless supply of aftermarket parts to maintain & customize it. I wouldn't try to add nitrous to it though ;) Signatureannoyed@net.spammers Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl > I love the styling of the Colt 1911, and have ever since I was a little kid. > I just hope that Colt is still around in 2011 for a centennial commemorative > to add to our arsenal^Wcollection. It's truly the '57 Chevy of handguns - > timeless classic beauty and an endless supply of aftermarket parts to > maintain & customize it. I wouldn't try to add nitrous to it though ;) A friend told me he had a demonstration of guns not killing people, and, in fact, a gun dying to save him. He mourns his M1911, which was in a shoulder holster when he was caught in a roadside ambush in Iraq. Apparently, it stopped a bullet that was heading inwards at his chest, which hit the pistol instead, bending the frame. Photo of the handsome crimefighting tabby at: http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/61655.htm If you need to get a registration code for the NY Post, go to bugmenot.com Signatureannoyed@net.spammers ============================================ If you get AOL their news page has the story with several pics. A very handsome Tabby adopted by the local DA. Suz&Spicey > Photo of the handsome crimefighting tabby at: > > http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/61655.htm > > If you need to get a registration code for the NY Post, go to > bugmenot.com I got the page but the photo didn't show, so I google-imaged for 'fred undercover' and found this: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20060209-0025- undercoverkitten.html or http://tinyurl.com/cvz5l It has a pic of the dog that was the instigator of the investigation, licking Fred's face. :-) Chak SignatureIn science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms. --Stephen Jay Gould > http://tinyurl.com/cvz5l > It has a pic of the dog that was the instigator of the investigation, > licking Fred's face. :-) Fred doesn't look 100% sure about this... :) Joyce > > http://tinyurl.com/cvz5l > > It has a pic of the dog that was the instigator of the investigation, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Joyce Fred looks like who let the dogs out and why the heck do you think I want to be here bad slave bad slave Wow. He is REALLY pretty. He's got quite a sad story himself. I"m glad he got adopted by a caring person! > >> Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. > >> http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > If you need to get a registration code for the NY Post, go to bugmenot.com >>> Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. >>> http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >If you need to get a registration code for the NY Post, go to bugmenot.com I got nothing. Blank page. ??? Ginger-lyn Home Pages: http://www.moonsummer.com http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~summer/index.htm (genealogy) http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against Animals in Movies Website) >Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. >http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 Fred's pic was all over this morning's papers. He's an adorable tabby boy. Theresa Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com Make Levees, Not War >Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. >http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 Didn't read the story, but it was on local news today. What ticked me off is that they said the cat is still NOT neutered. Hello? Is someone going to do the right thing and get this guy neutered? Ginger-lyn Home Pages: http://www.moonsummer.com http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~summer/index.htm (genealogy) http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against Animals in Movies Website) There is another story from the NYPost. I think the kitten has been operating on one long. May have had to wait for his lung to heal. PAW AND ORDER By RICH CALDER and ALEX GINSBERG It took a feline to catch a felon. Brooklyn detectives collared a self-styled veterinarian who allegedly had neither a license nor a degree - using a 9-month-old street kitten to act as the undercover agent in a sting operation. The four-legged gumshoe, Fred, helped investigators nail 28-year-old Steven Vassall, a Kingsborough Community College student who prosecutors believe may have "treated" as many as 50 pets over the past seven years - including a helpless Boston terrier he allegedly dumped bleeding on its owner's doorstep. The saga began in August, when Vassall allegedly told Raymond Reid, a 40-year-old physical trainer from Bedford-Stuyvesant, that Reid's terrier, Burt, needed surgery to correct an intestinal blockage. According to Reid, Vassall told him the pooch would have to be put down. "I was devastated," Reid said yesterday, cradling the now-healthy Burt in his arms. "I was crying. He's been with me for six years. They become like family." When Reid insisted on seeing the dog, Vassall allegedly drove up and left the suffering Burt in front of Reid's home, still bleeding from an unhealed infected stomach incision - with no instructions or medications. After hearing Reid's horrifying tale, Brooklyn DA detectives hatched a plan to cage the doc. They recruited Fred, who'd recently been adopted and nursed back to health by the DA's chief animal-crimes prosecutor, Carol Moran, to act as their "undercover" animal. A detective arranged for the suspected phony vet to pick up Fred for a $135 neutering last Friday at an apartment equipped with a hidden camera. The tape shows Vassall chatting with the detective as he picked up Fred. Detectives busted him as soon as he left the apartment and before he could touch Fred. A grand jury, after seeing the videotape, indicted him for unauthorized practice. He also faces charges including torturing an animal. His lawyer, Eric Hildebrand, did not return a call for comment. Vassall posted $2,500 bail on Sunday. Yesterday, his father and brother chased reporters away from the family's three-story house in East Flatbush. A search of the house turned up illegal needles and a list of some 50 names prosecutors think may be former customers. Yesterday, as DA Charles Hynes announced the bust, the two animals - Burt and Fred - met for the first time. Press officials orchestrating the event appeared concerned that the canine victim might bark at or chase the undercover agent. Instead, Burt lovingly licked the tiny kitten's face. Joyce Clemmons, the Brooklyn supervisor for NYC Animal Care and Control, said Fred was able to breathe with only part of one lung when he was rescued off the street in September. "Now he's giving back to help other cats and dogs of New York City," she said. > >Fake vet busted thanks to kitten in a sting operation. > >http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1595789 [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against > Animals in Movies Website) >There is another story from the NYPost. I think the kitten has been >operating on one long. May have had to wait for his lung to heal. <snip story> That would explain it. Sure hope when he's ready they *do* get him neutered by a good, reputable vet! Ginger-lyn Home Pages: http://www.moonsummer.com http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~summer/index.htm (genealogy) http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against Animals in Movies Website)
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