DEA Seizes Drugs, Records From Riverside County Vet

Federal drug enforcement agents on Wednesday seized narcotics and clinic records from a Riverside County veterinarian being investigated for illegally dispensing drugs used to tranquilize and euthanize animals.

Bruce Clyde Jones, 52, of the Animal Medical Center in San Jacinto is the target of the investigation, which included a June 22 raid on the Animal Friends of the Valley shelter in Lake Elsinore, according to Jose Martinez, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles office.

Agents confiscated drugs, Jones’ patient records and invoices of drug purchases, Martinez said.

Martinez declined to say if other incidents are being investigated.

Jones sold drugs to the Animal Friends of the Valley, which did not have the required federal approval to possess narcotics. Those drugs also were seized by the DEA.

Jones and Willa Bagwell, the shelter’s assistant director, said they were unaware that a separate license was needed to dispense the drugs outside of Jones’ office. The Lake Elsinore shelter is the only place where Jones said he supplied drugs.

“I’m the first pin to knock down,” he said.

Although Jones is able to operate while the investigation proceeds, he said he is concerned he will lose his license to possess and administer drugs. He said that would effectively end his 25-year career.

Animal Friends of the Valley is not being investigated by the DEA, Martinez said.

The 16-year-old Lake Elsinore clinic provides animal control services to that city as well as Temecula, Murrieta and Canyon Lake.

It also is a shelter for unincorporated Riverside County from the San Diego County line to Corona.

Following the raid last week, the shelter has been unable to euthanize animals and must wait until a license is issued, which Bagwell said they were told could take four to six weeks.

Administrators at the shelter contacted Rep. Darrell E. Issa (R-Vista), whose district includes the shelter and, and his office has tried to help the shelter expedite the license.

Martinez said the shelter was not the target of the DEA’s investigation and that the office plans on doing what it can to ensure the shelter receives its license and is able to operate.