An unqualified veterinarian has been sentenced for practicing without the necessary qualifications by a court in Elche.
The Colegio de Veterinarios de Alicante (Icoval) filed a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office for professional intrusion.
The events dated back to 2017 but the opening of the oral trial has only just begun, following the complaint and investigation by Icoval, who collected several consistent testimonies and confirmed that the individual did not have veterinary studies.
“The process, in which the Association of Alicante appeared and provided decisive evidence to substantiate the accusation, was against a false veterinarian who practiced as such by vaccinating and even making a diagnosis —as was proven— to the animals that appeared in a centre with a canine hairdresser in a Santa Pola store”, according to Icoval.
After becoming aware of the possible case of intrusion, the veterinary association hired a detective who entered the Santa Pola veterinary centre and asked if they could vaccinate the dog that was accompanying him against rabies.
The investigator recorded the scene: someone in a white coat in a consultation marked as the ‘veterinarian’ attended the animal and even dared to diagnose a possible eye problem. After a second visit —also documented with the pertinent recorded images—, the complaint was filed, which has now ended in conviction.
The centre, apparently a store with a consultation area, did have a veterinarian who was hired part-time. And when he wasn’t there, the accused attended to the animals.
In the end, however, there was no final trial, after the defendant, summoned in September, went to the Criminal Court Number 2 of Elche, admitted the facts that he was charged with of a crime of intrusion and agreed to the sentence proposed by the Prosecutor’s Office, which reduced his sentence to 12 months fine at a rate of 5 euro per day.
