A Palm Desert veterinarian surgeon was arrested when deputies responded to a 911 call and found a dead dog locked inside his car, a sheriff’s department spokesman said today.
Booking photo of Douglas James Huber. (Riverside County Sheriff's Department)
Deputies went to Desert Veterinary Specialists at 42-065 Washington St. at about 9 a.m. Saturday to respond to a call about an 8-year-old German shepherd locked inside a vehicle without food and water, said sheriff’s Sgt. Radek Horkel.
“An officer broke the vehicle window in an attempt to save the dog’s life after not being able to locate the dog’s owner,” Horkel said. “The dog died at the scene of suspected heat exhaustion.”
As deputies were preparing to tow the car away, the dog’s owner, Douglas James Huber, of Rancho Mirage, arrived and was taken to the police station for questioning, Horkel said.
Huber, 51, who authorities confirmed is a veterinarian, was booked at the Riverside County Jail in Indio on a preliminary charge of misdemeanor animal endangerment. He was released after posting $2,500 bail, jail records showed.
State law prohibits anyone from leaving an animal in an unattended vehicle if by doing so it endangers the health or well-being of the animal.
Under this law, conditions such as the weather, a lack of ventilation or lack of food or water can subject a person to criminal prosecution, which carries a penalty of up to six months in jail, up to $500 in fines or both if the animal is injured or dies.
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What a loser, being a Vet makes this ten times worse. I hope he loses his vet license.
No kidding. He is a vet and doesn’t know that his dog could die for being left in a hot car. If this is your vet, better think twice about going back to him. He doesn’t deserve his license.
Something must be really wrong with him. Of course he knew this would kill his dog. Maybe he wanted to get “rid” of it? Or maybe he was having a mental issue? I am just guessing of course, but seriously, something is very
wrong.
Or maybe there was something else happening entirely that no one knows about.
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/state/ohio-police-dog-dies-after-left-in-hot-patrol-car Mistakes happen
[...] I will say for sure is that he is one scary-looking dude: http://www.swrnn.com/2012/08/05/updatedp… Leave a Reply ? What’s his name? (10 points!)? How do I stop my dog from barking and [...]
Before jumping to any conclusions and accusing Dr. Huber of any wrongdoing, we need to look at all the circumstances involving this incident. He is a compassionate and caring veterinarian for anyone who has had the opportunity to meet him. Accidents happen. This was certainly not intentional. Shame on those who says he should lose his license over this. No one is perfect.
Seriously! referringDMV…are you kidding me! All I can say is you are just as bad as he is, shame on you for standing up for this monster and his unbelievable act.
Accidents happen, yes. But locking a dog in a car is NOT an accident. You do that on purpose.
BULL
True no one is perfect! However, wrong is wrong!!!! He should have taken the dog inside, no matter what the circumstance was. Now he will have to pay the price. I feel so sad for that dog.
[...] SWRNN.com: Palm Desert: Vet arrested after dog locked in car dies [...]
From the look on his face in the photo he appears to be fryed. Probably took some of his pets meds himself.
Why didn’t the person who reported it break the window instead of waiting around, wasting precious minutes waiting for the police to arrive. That is absolutely legal to do. That poor guy must be agonizing over what he knows was his fault. He may have stopped at the clinic for a minute and upon getting inside was presented with a life-threatening emergency that took his focus away from his own dog. No one knows this yet. Maybe he asked one of the employees to get his dog and they forgot. We do not know all the circumstances. You cannot believe that this was a deliberate act, just an extremely unfortunate one with a horrible ending for the dog and a memory that will haunt this person for the rest of his life.
What a total jerk! I hope he never gets another customer again!
I hope he goes to jail for this cruelty.
Only the vet himself is responsible. No excuses please. You don’t rely on ‘someone else’ to remove an animal from a ‘life threatening position’, you do it yourself. Assuming he had an emergency call, he should first place the dog in a safe environment, like his own office. Alzheimer’s early onset is at age 30, becoming worse the older the person gets. I appears he has a SERIOUS mental problem. HIS LICENSE SHOULD BE REMOVED.
letter to the California Veterinary Medical Board,
This irresponsible, FORGETFUL veterinarian is the only one, not anyone else, reponsible for this sad, tragic episode. Two thirds of American have MEMORY LOSS after age 40, he is 51 years old. One wonders about his mental health status. Hopefully, during surgeries he performed, he did not FORGET medicaal instruments/accessories inside any animal’s body. To evade future, unsafe risks, his medical license should be terminated. ‘Perro’ is his dog’s name. Perro is a Castilian word meaning ‘dog.’ Words from different languages oftEn have additional, inferred meanings depending on how they are used. To assign the word ‘dog’ as the name for his animal companion denotes and indifferent, unaffectionate personality of his owner.