The responses have been received by the two Hometown Animal Care veterinarian's who are answering to the complaint filed with the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
Joni O'Hair D.V.M. chose not to address any of the allegations but instead simply rehashed the events that had already been established. The part-time relief vet from Banfield Pet Hospital in Georgetown Texas did claim that according to hospital records, the surrender and payment transaction occurred at 1:27 pm. With a surgery start time of 4:30 pm to 5 pm, there is no explanation for why a 3 hour gap existed for a surgery to begin that was an emergency. Dr. O'Hair also claims that the option to offer the surrender of ownership did not come from her. In an odd statement, she reveals that another doctor, Dr. Morelli so happened to over hear the phone conversation and on the spur of the moment, informed Dr. O'Hair about the surrender option.
"However, during my conversation, an associate D.V.M. had overheard our phone call and mentioned that Hometown Animal Care allows owners to surrender pets." Joni O'Hair D.V.M. July 7th 2014
Dr. Morelli was also revealed to be the doctor who refused the pet owner his last visitation with his pet the next day According to the hospital owner, for an unknown reason Dr. Morelli instructed the employee, who immediately took possession of the cat not to have any contact with the previous owner.
"Dr. Morelli made the decision to not allow access. She had been through a bad experience with a similar situation earlier in her career at another hospital causing her to make that decision. She also recommended to Amy that she not contact the owner. I was not aware of that discussion." Tom Sutton D.V.M 4/22/14
Dr. Sutton attempts to defend her actions, but there is only so much that can be done when your doctor's actions and decision are dictated by fear instead of logic.
"I can`t really fault her decision to not allow access as we don`t have a policy regarding that and she was doing the best she could based on her previous experiences." Tom Sutton D.V.M 4/22/14
Dr. Tom Sutton took the minimalist route and responded with a single paragraph to the multiple allegations brought against him, his staff, and his business. In a surprising turn of events, Dr. Sutton admits that there were no allegation of abuse and neglect and that he was only making general statements compared to an average cat. This is strikingly different than the response revealed back in April 2014.
A side by side comparison of each individual response is extremely revealing of the impact 02/26/2014 had. The response by Dr. Sutton is indicative of someone who has been told multiple versions of the same story and is now forced to be accountable for the actions of his staff.
Hunter was a pure breed chocolate point Siamese cat whose ownership was lost to Hometown Animal Care by the use of undisclosed after-care cost imposed after price had been set for emergency surgery. An employee immediately took possession and took him home that night instead of Hunter receiving the after-care stated to be necessary and drove cost up to the point which forced the pet owner no other options but euthanasia.
The pet owner, who has a background in investigation, spent 3 months investigating, gathering evidence, and learning Texas law. On June 2, 2014, he submitted and 60 plus page document to the TBVME requesting an investigation of these incidents. That was the start of The Hunter Games.
From the pages of that complaint, it quickly became obvious.....this was no movie.....and this was not a game.