NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — NASHVILLE — Two dogs are dead and a third survived serious complications after treatment at an East Nashville veterinary clinic that is now the focus of a criminal investigation.
Metro Police confirmed that they and the District Attorney's office are investigating Caudle Vet Clinic. The clinic still appears to be open, though it did not respond to a request for comment.
The families of all three dogs point to the same clinic. NewsChannel 5 first spoke with the owners of Wunjo about a month ago, after they raised concerns that the veterinarian who performed surgery on their dog at Caudle Vet Clinic was unlicensed.
Wunjo later died at home. Gill, another dog, also had surgery at the clinic, and his owner says complications forced them to seek care elsewhere. Gill survived.
RELATED: Nashville dog dies after surgery at clinic run by unlicensed veterinarian, family says
Now, Brooks and Christine Davis say what they believe was an unnecessary surgery at Caudle led to the death of their dog, Reggie.
The Davises took Reggie to Caudle Vet Clinic after finding a mass that seemed to appear overnight.
"He touched it immediately and said, 'Yeah, you don't want this,'" Brooks Davis said.
Five days later, Reggie was in surgery. Within a month, the couple had to put him down.
The Davises describe weeks after surgery of trying to take Reggie home, only to have the wound reopen and return him to Caudle. They say every time they checked in, they were encouraged to leave him longer and told Reggie was still healing.
"Why did every time Brooks call, he said he's doing great, he's just bleeding a little bit? It was such a terrible-looking wound," Christine Davis said.
Then they found a social media post saying their veterinarian, Dr. Prashant Pandya, wasn't licensed in Tennessee.
"We have to get our dog — something is wrong — and we were right," Christine Davis said. "He went to pick up Reggie the next day and he was so much worse than when we dropped him off. He had a gaping hole in the back of his leg. It was so infected, necrotic."
The Davises said their concerns were never with the Caudle Vet Clinic staff — in fact, they were thankful for the staff's attention. Their concerns center on Dr. Pandya's licensure.
Dr. Walter Clark has practiced veterinary medicine for more than 43 years, has served as a consultant for the state board, and has attended nearly every board meeting since 1986. He says that if Dr. Pandya was not properly licensed, the law was broken.
"If he wasn't properly licensed by the state, he was in violation of the law of practicing without a license," Clark said.
Clark says the state veterinary board is likely already investigating, but that it is a process that can take more than a year — and the board's jurisdiction is limited.
"Unfortunately, the Board of Examiners only has jurisdiction over people who have a license. They can't prosecute anyone who doesn't have a license. That falls on the District Attorney," Clark said.
"It seems pretty cut and dry to me. Either he is or isn't licensed, and he should be shut down immediately," Brooks Davis said.
As law enforcement investigates, the Davises say they can never get back the time they had with Reggie.
"What I couldn't accept was the last few weeks of his life he spent at that vet, and he should've never had a surgery," Brooks Davis said.
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