The Miami-Dade police arrested a man on Monday for practicing veterinary medicine without a license, following the tragic outcome of a surgery that resulted in the death of six newly born puppies.
Richard Andino, 39, was practicing illegally as a veterinarian at his home in South Miami Heights. His arrest came months after the puppies of a dog, on which he performed a cesarean section at his house during Christmas 2023, died, as reported by America TeVe.
According to the police investigation, the accused contacted the owners of Channel, a mixed-breed dog, through text messages and presented himself as a licensed veterinarian.
On Christmas Eve, the couple took their pet, who was in labor, to Andino's house and left her there, even though they found it suspicious that it was a house and not a clinic. However, the fake veterinarian promised them that he would take Channel to a clinic to undergo the operation.
"Because their dog was in labor, they decided to trust Andino, as he was dressed in a nurse uniform," the police report states. The owners of the dog paid him $1,500 in advance.
The day after the surgery, Andino wrote to Channel's owners to inform them that he only had three puppies out of the six he was expecting. Suspecting that something was wrong, the couple returned to the defendant's residence to look for the mother dog and the surviving puppies.
When confronted and asked about the location of his clinic, the man responded that he frequently performed this type of surgeries and that the operation had been carried out at his home due to the holiday.
According to the police report, Andino stated that he had a room in his house set up for this type of procedure.
Back at their home, the owners of Channel realized that the puppies were not breathing and had to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on one of them.
"During this time, a yellow and orange secretion came out of the puppy's nose and mouth," the report describes. "All the puppies died later."
On Tuesday, a day after his arrest, Andino appeared in court and was charged with practicing veterinary medicine without a license.
"Six puppies died because he performed a cesarean section [on the dog] and claimed to be a licensed veterinarian when he is not," said the judge in the case, who set a bail of $2,500 and prohibited him from contacting the victims.
The Miami-Dade Animal Services Department advises county residents to verify in advance if veterinarians and companies offering these services have the necessary licenses to avoid a similar situation, as indicated in the America TeVé report.
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