In the latest crazy cat lawsuit, a Queens veterinarian is suing Animal Medical Center in Manhattan for euthanizing her cat against her will... and while she watched! According to the Daily News, 58-year-old Shelley Gale's cat Joey was undergoing surgery last summer on a chest tumor, and being a pet oncologist herself, she outlines in a 25-page complaint what exactly happened.
In the papers she says she was just feet away when a nurse approached her cat with a vial of dark pink liquid she recognized as the same substance used to put animals down. She then "put out her hand to stop this person and stated that this was not wanted nor would it be necessary. The unidentified person reached past the plaintiff's hand and grabbed the catheter that was in place in the patient Joey Gale's hind limb. This person injected all of the deadly solution saying that this was just to be sure." While it's unclear, it does seem like she knew the cat would die, but didn't think the solution was necessary.
After her cat died, Gale refused to pay for the euthanasia but signed a form consenting to it—she claims that was just so she could bring Joey back to her home. The animal hospital told the paper, "While we are truly sorry for the loss of Dr. Shelley Gale's cat, Joey, The Animal Medical Center followed all appropriate medical procedures and standards of veterinary medical care."
