Vet Arrested for Punching 5lb Dog
Posted on 2007 under Crimes Against Canines, Health, Just Sad :(, News & Updates |11 Jun
A vet is someone you’re supposed to be able to trust with your dog or pet, someone who heals their ills and takes care of them. So how do you feel when the vet turns out to be one of the ‘bad guys’, one of the abusers? To me, it’s beyond shameful and this just may be the case with Dr. Joshua Winston a Sun City West veterinarian in AZ.
Winston was arrested on suspicion of punching a five-pound Chihuahua five times in the head and faces charges of animal cruelty and theft, according to a prepared statement from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
Winston allegedly struck the Chihuahua’s head five times and dislodged the dog’s eye on June 4, according to the statement. The dog needed corrective surgery after the incident, according to the statement.
Two veterinary technicians witnessed the abuse and said that the uncooperative dog angered Winston, according to that statement.
“My policy dictates that people who abuse animals, regardless of their position, go directly to jail,” said Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the prepared statement.
Winston also faces theft charges from an incident earlier this year. The sheriff’s department said Winston was supposed to vaccinate a feisty Neapolitan Mastiff, according to the statement. Winston put the medication down the sink, instead of vaccinating the dog, and charged the dog’s owner $80, according to the statement.
“Vets are good people who love animals so I hope that this is just an isolated incident,” Arpaio said in the statement.
Winston worked as the only doctor at the Sun City West Animal Hospital, near West Camino Del Sol and NRH Johnson Boulevard.
No one from the animal hospital was available to comment. (AZCentral.com)
Did he do it? If so, how could he do it?? A doctor entrusted with the care and safety of this tiny little dog! What do you think??
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UPDATE 6/20/07 - Please be sure to take a look at the update on this story - Dr Joshua Winston - the Other Side of the Story. Hopefully this side will get as much play in the media as the original story!!ÂÂ
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by Waystone, on June 16 2007 @ 8:54 am
I think it’s another example of the way the internet and news media can be used by pretty much anyone to harm someone else.
On the local level, this story is happily unraveling as quickly as it emerged. The theft charge simply doesn’t exist, the owners of the injured chihuahua are not involved in the prosecution, and received a call from Dr. Winston immediately after the incident. He’s declaring innocence to anyone who’ll listen (of course, ‘Unknown Local Vet Deals With Fallout From Disagreement With Staff’ doesn’t stand a chance of reaching the same sort of national exposure).
There’s a letter being circulated and signed by a growing number of other veterinarians pointing out how easily this can happen to pop-eyed breeds without abuse involved. The operation that saved the little dog’s eyesight was actually performed by Dr. Winston, immediately after the incident.
While it’s impossible to really know exactly what happened just yet, from where I’m sitting it’s looking more and more like the kind of nightmare all health care professionals spend their careers worried will happen - falling victim to an accusation that will cling to them regardless of whether it’s true or not.
Course… the ‘hope someone punches his eye out in jail’ comments will be what people find when they Google him for years to come. It’s frustrating, the way well-intentioned pet lovers and people acting to prevent something that really has to be prevented - animal abuse - can be used to easily.
by Admin, on June 16 2007 @ 10:01 am
Waystone, I most sincerely hope that he didn’t do this and it is as you say, ‘Fallout From Disagreement With Staff’. For a medical health professional for do something like this erodes trust in one of the worst ways possible.
To me animal abusers are some of the lowest forms of humanity, right down there with those to abuse and hurt children because in both cases their victims are innocent and defenseless. And for a doctor, someone who is entrusted with the health and safely of their charges, to do this, it’s unconscionable!
It was heartening to read follow-up stories showing all the support he has from his clients, all the faith they have in him. I look forward to the whole story coming out.
If he is found innocent of the charges, I will happily proclaim it. And yes, I agree, if he is innocent, this is a nightmare of the highest proportions that will follow him for the rest of his life but it doesn’t look to me like those who believe in him are going to abandon him and to me that in itself speaks volumes…. I hope people listen!
Thanks you so much for taking the time to comment and I will be watching for updates on this story.
by For The Love of the Dog » Dr. Joshua Winston, The Other Side of the Story, on June 20 2007 @ 11:09 am
[...] a week ago I did a story on the vet who was accused to hitting a little chihuahua and dislodging its eye. Horrible, sad story! The saddest thing was to think that a vet who was [...]
by For The Love of the Dog » Update on Dr. Joshua Winston, AZ Vet Accused of Punching Dog - Indicted!, on July 10 2007 @ 5:25 pm
[...] our attention on in the beginning of June when Dr. Winston, Sun City veterinarian, was accused of punching a Chihuahua in the face 5 times and dislodging its eye on Jun [...]
by For The Love of the Dog » Vet Vindicated! Joshua Winston Cleared of Charges, on September 28 2007 @ 1:55 pm
[...] Joshua Winston, Sun City veterinarian, accused of punching a Chihuahua in the face 5 times and dislodging its eye on Jun 4 and indicted on felony animal cruelty in July, [...]