‘Country-Style’ Veterinarian May Lose License : Pet care: Clients complain of misdiagnoses and questionable practices. A state official says George Shaw’s methods are outdated.

These are the nightmares of pet owners:

A misdiagnosed cat dies from chemotherapy. A German shepherd undergoing euthanasia convulses for half an hour instead of dying quickly. Another dog loses a toe to gangrene after a too-tight bandage is applied.

A state investigation of these and other alleged incidents has led the state attorney general’s office to seek suspension or revocation of the license of Sun Valley veterinarian George Bernard Shaw. A hearing conference on the case is scheduled for mid-January.

In interviews this month, colleagues, former customers and ex-employees described Shaw as a country-style doctor who charged half the going rate, had an easy manner with animals and people and was willing to make house calls in emergencies. However, they said they quickly became disillusioned with his work and complained to the state.

“I’m so glad it’s happening. . . . The man should definitely not be practicing medicine,” said Jacqueline Moehrle, a former client who lodged a complaint. Three of Moehrle’s cats, at least one of which was later found not to be suffering from the leukemia diagnosed by Shaw, died from a chemotherapy drug he administered, a state investigation concluded.

Gary Hill, executive officer for the Board of Examiners in Veterinary Medicine, said Shaw, 60, has not kept up with the myriad changes in veterinary medicine since he graduated from UC Davis in 1966.

“George Shaw is an example of a man who is outdated,” Hill said.

William E. Eick, Shaw’s attorney, said that he was still investigating the state’s allegations against his client.

“I’m sure that he will be vindicated at the end of the hearing process and that Dr. Shaw will not be found to have done anything wrong,” Eick said.

Shaw has continued to treat animals at Dr. Shaw’s Veterinary Clinic on Sheldon Street in a rural pocket of the San Fernando Valley near Hansen Dam, despite the investigation and pending revocation hearing. The state of Oregon sought to revoke his license in 1985 but was prevented from doing so because he left the state before the order became final.

Closing down a practice without a full hearing before an administrative law judge and the veterinary board requires a court-issued temporary restraining order, which Hill said is difficult to obtain in cases involving pets.

For a judge to issue a temporary restraining order, “there has to be significant proof that there’s a danger to the health, safety and welfare of the public,” he said. “It’s a little harder to get that with pets than with people because the animals aren’t talking.”

The state’s case against Shaw rests largely on his treatment of Tresor, the dog that lost a toe, and Moehrle’s three dead cats: Squeeker, Mozart and Herbal.

Squeeker was a stray kitten that appeared at Moehrle’s Sunland residence in August, 1987, with an apparent respiratory problem, she said. Shaw examined the animal and ordered a test for feline leukemia that other veterinarians say is often inaccurate. The test came back positive, and Shaw had Moehrle’s other four cats tested. Two of them also tested positive for the often-fatal disease.

The cats were immediately given shots of Oncovin, an anti-tumor drug, according to the state investigation. Within three days, the kitten was dead, and eventually the other two died, said Moehrle, who now lives in Pennsylvania. She said she ran up a $2,000 bill at two other animal hospitals trying to save two of the cats.

Veterinarian Robert Buffum, who treated Mozart and Herbal at the Verdugo Pet Hospital after they each received a chemotherapy shot and stopped eating, said autopsies showed that one of the cats he treated definitely did not have feline leukemia and the other probably didn’t. Buffum said he believes that a drug overdose caused them to die.

Eick, the attorney, said, “Dr. Shaw did not misdiagnose the cats.” Eick would not elaborate on the specifics of that or any of the state’s allegations.

Tresor, a large German shepherd, had to have a toe amputated by another veterinarian in 1988 after Shaw wrapped his broken foot but failed to treat a resulting infection, which became gangrenous, the state investigation concluded. An investigator’s review of Shaw’s X-rays said they do not show a fracture.

Carol Harashevsky of Sunland, who owns Tresor and also complained to the state, said the dog walks strangely because of the missing toe.

“It makes you feel so bad,” she said. “Animals are so much like children at times, so dependent on you.”

The most shocking allegations--and the hardest to prove, state investigators say--occurred in private and were witnessed only by Shaw’s former employees. The employees, whose statements also are part of the state’s case, said they saw practices such as issuing false rabies vaccination certificates and failing to disinfect surgical tools.

One employee, who asked not to be identified, said she saw animals wake up during surgery as their anesthesia wore off.

“I said, ‘Is she coming out of the anesthesia?’ and he said, ‘Yes, but I’m almost through,’ ” she said, remembering one such incident. “It was a good 15 to 20 minutes more that that dog was half awake and feeling it. The dog was screaming.”

Kim Winders, who worked for Shaw for 2 1/2 years, said that when he ran out of a euthanasia drug, he would simply administer an overdose of a drug not intended for that purpose.

“I watched a German shepherd last 30 minutes, convulsing all over the floor because he did not have the right drug,” Winders said. “He finally injected air into its heart,” killing it.

Shaw has moved back and forth between California and Oregon, state records show, practicing in Oregon in the late 1960s, in Tujunga from 1971 to 1982 and then returning to Oregon, to a small town near Medford.

A thick folder on Shaw compiled by the Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board indicates that by 1984 the board had begun receiving complaints from his clients, Executive Officer Molly Emmons said. In 1985, the Oregon board charged him with negligence for alleged practices that included failing to sanitize surgical tools, misdiagnosing illnesses and poor record-keeping.

Oregon moved to revoke his license, then agreed to a negotiated settlement of a five-year suspension of his license. But Shaw failed to sign the settlement and the revocation order was reinstated, Emmons said. The action never became final because Shaw left Oregon.

In 1986, California authorities tried to persuade a judge that the charges against Shaw in Oregon should trigger similar discipline here, but were unsuccessful, Deputy Atty. Gen. Stephen S. Handin said.

Hill said the case was thrown out on a technicality.