State Probes Pet Hospital, Its Director

State prosecutors are trying to pull the license of a nationally known veterinary hospital in Fountain Valley, accusing its director of allowing a former heavy-equipment operator to pose for years as a surgeon and perform numerous operations on pets.

The California attorney general’s office alleges in a civil complaint that All-Care Animal Referral Center and its chief veterinarian, Dr. Robert L. Rooks, also falsified medical records and asked another two veterinarians to embellish their credentials.

The allegations by the consumer affairs division follow a series of complaints and civil lawsuits initiated by pet owners who have criticized the hospital’s care.

One case involved a 10-year-old Akita named Honey Bear, whose surgical history was allegedly altered for fear of lawsuits, according to prosecutors.

Rooks and the referral center strongly denied any wrongdoing Thursday, suggesting in a written statement that the accusations were fueled by two disgruntled ex-employees and a number of pet owners who were anguished over the death of their animals.

“Despite the best efforts of Dr. Rooks and the All-Care staff, sadly, we cannot save all of the very sick pets we see each day,” the statement read. “While we understand the hurt and frustration our clients endure when we cannot save their pets, it is unfortunate that some of these people choose to express that pain by attacking us.”

The California Veterinary Medical Board will decide in the coming months whether to revoke Rooks’ medical license and pull the facility’s operating permit. The panel also could impose fines totaling $35,000 if it concludes that the hospital violated state government codes, according to the attorney general’s office.

Billed as one of the biggest and most technologically advanced veterinary hospitals in the nation, All-Care receives referrals from around the nation.

It performs such exotic procedures as brain surgery and hysterectomies.

With equipment purchased from human hospitals, pets receive chemotherapy and radiotherapy. They recuperate in hydrotherapy whirlpools and get their insides mapped with CT scans and magnetic resonance imaging.

The hospital remains open and admits some 30,000 pets a year, but the employee at the center of the case left in 1998.

The attorney general’s allegations, filed last week with the state Office of Administrative Hearing, accuse the hospital of numerous violations of medical codes.

However, none directly linked the allegations to deaths of animals in the hospital’s care.

The accusations will be heard by an administrative law judge, and any findings would be referred to the veterinary medical board for action.

Prosecutors allege that the unnamed former heavy equipment operator was hired by the hospital in 1995, even though he never held a state’s license as a veterinarian or a registered veterinary technician.

Despite his lack of credentials, the employee performed a variety surgical procedures over the next three years, including making incisions, closing wounds with sutures and staples and administering anesthesia, prosecutors said.

One of the procedures was videotaped by a veterinary magazine, according to court papers.

During his last year at the hospital in 1998, the man was allegedly promoted to “director of surgery.”

Rooks and the hospital also attempted to deceive pet owners by referring to two hospital veterinarians respectively as an “internist”

and a “neurologist” even though neither was board certified in those specialties, prosecutors said.

Although the veterinarians complained to Rooks about his use of the labels, Rooks allegedly told them that it was important for pet owners to feel that their animals were getting the best care, according to the attorney general’s office.

The accusation indicated that authorities have investigated the hospital for nearly three years. Pet owners say the probe resulted from their complaints that their animals received inadequate care.

Joanna Patrice, whose pet cat Rusty died in 1997 after surgery at the hospital, said she is gratified that the medical board is reviewing the hospital.

“Everyone says this is the No. 1 hospital, but they’ve been doing all these egregious things,” she said.