
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 9, 1995                   TAG: 9511090041
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE VETERINARIAN CLEARED IN DOG'S DEATH

A Northeast Roanoke veterinarian was cleared Tuesday of a complaint that she was negligent in the death of a Roanoke couple's dog.

A committee of the Virginia Board of Veterinary Medicine decided there was not enough evidence to support the complaint made last month by Mike and Melissa Ferguson, said Pamela Twombly, executive director of the board.

The couple alleged that during a May visit to the veterinarian, Dr. Kathy Young of Animal Medical Associates injured their 4-month-old Lhasa apso/cockapoo puppy, leading to the puppy's death.

A necropsy performed on the puppy at Virginia Tech concluded that the dog had died of a punctured lung. But Twombly said the cause of the injury could not be conclusively determined.

The Fergusons alleged that the dog's death resulted from improper handling by the veterinarian. Young denied any mishandling of the dog.

The board's decision came after an investigation by the enforcement division of the Department of Health Professions, which works for all the boards in the department.

by CNB