PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A veterinarian has sued a national pet hospital chain, alleging he was wrongly fired after repeatedly complaining his clinic was putting profits above the best interests of animals.
Robert Nix said a clinic belonging to Banfield, The Pet Hospital, in suburban Tualatin bought an ultrasound machine and began pressuring veterinarians to use it at least once a week to boost the company's bottom line, even when they didn't believe it was necessary.
The lawsuit also alleges that people off the street were hired as "PetNurses" with only a few weeks of training, while most other vet clinics would use certified veterinary technicians.
The Portland-based company said the lawsuit's allegations were without merit and the company intends to vigorously defend against the claims.
"At Banfield, The Pet Hospital, we strive to provide the highest quality veterinary medicine to the pets we treat," said Karen Johnson, vice president of the Portland-based company and a veterinarian.
Banfield was founded in 1955 in Portland and named after a stretch of Interstate 84. It claims to be the world's largest veterinary hospital for pets with more than 700 clinics, many of them in PetSmart stores.
Mitra Shahri, Nix's attorney, said Banfield has problems companywide, not just in Tualatin.
The Better Business Bureau has given Banfield in Oregon and Washington its lowest grade, an "F." In the past three years, the bureau received 163 complaints for 28 Banfield locations in the two states, although the Tualatin clinic isn't specifically listed on the bureau's site as one of the locations.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the PetNurses at the Tualatin clinic operated the ultrasound, then regularly sent the images to an out-of-state company to be read by people who weren't certified specialists.
The complaint listed examples that included a cat that was less than a year old brought into the Tualatin clinic with massively enlarged kidneys. An ultrasound and repeated lab work turned up no diagnosis, and after a week, the cat was "having terrible difficulty" and "the client began to consider euthanasia," the suit states.
Nix insisted that the cat be sent to another clinic with a trained radiologist, who "quickly identified" a blockage "that had been missed by the ultrasound" at Banfield's Tualatin location. The cat was treated and survived.
Nix said in the suit that he later learned the cat's treatment team at Banfield had taken an X-ray and charged the cat's owner. But no one looked at the X-ray, which would have identified the problem, before "ordering expensive ultrasounds."
Nix became chief of staff of the Tualatin location in November 2007, was demoted and then fired in November 2008.
He alleges he was fired because of his complaints and is seeking about $500,000 in damages
