A grieving Long Island couple claims its beloved dog was neglected and left to die at a Nassau County animal hospital that pushed them into $15,000 elective hip surgery, then charged $2,500 a night for his stay.
Karen and Dave Freed told The Post they were encouraged to put pooch Bo, a 10-year-old Newfoundland, through elective $15,000 hip surgery at Long Island Veterinary Specialists in Plainview in June to hopefully prolong his life.
But the couple said the situation quickly turned into a nightmare — beginning with pre-surgical X-rays taken to clear Bo for the operation.
“They told us he was all clear for surgery,” an emotional Karen said. “Then after his surgery, they told us he had [developed] a light case of pneumonia.”
The pre-operation scans actually showed the dog was suffering from the early stages of pneumonia and even a possible collapsed lung before surgery, according to Bo’s records from LIVS and provided to The Post by the Freeds.
Yet the hospital — one of the largest of its kind on Long Island — still pushed the couple to move ahead with the costly surgery while withholding the troubling radiology findings, the Freeds said. It then charged them an additional $2,500 a night for five nights while allegedly lying about the animal’s ailing recovery, adding $12,500 to their bill for a total of at least $27,500.
“They kept telling us he was improving, that he was stable,” when he was actually suffering, Karen said.
Dave added, “I feel guilty because this surgery was supposed to extend Bo’s lifespan, and it ended up doing the opposite.”
The couple claimed that after the surgery, they were barred from seeing Bo except for 10 minutes total in his six-day stay and misled into believing he was getting daily X-rays and ultrasounds — despite another staffer later admitting the hospital didn’t own an ultrasound machine and no x-rays were given to the pooch after his surgery.
The Freeds also said that in the short time they got to see Bo, the conditions he was left in were abysmal — claiming he was lying on a concrete floor with blood pooling at his mouth, with medical reports later confirming the dog was dehydrated despite supposedly being on IV fluids and being promised a feeding tube.
They said this fueled their belief that the clinic concealed his true condition while billing them thousands of dollars a night until he died.
Proceeding with an operation after radiology reports show possible lung collapse and pneumonia can be deadly, according to the American Animal Hospital Association’s 2020 Anesthesia and Monitoring Guidelines for Dogs and Cats.
Dogs with lung issues face extreme risks under anesthesia since the drugs can trigger respiratory failure, severe complications and death.
Withholding these critical findings from pet parents while pushing elective surgery is widely considered veterinary malpractice, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The Freeds said they had a veterinarian not associated with the clinic conduct an independent review of Bo’s case and that she found his care fell far below what is considered the acceptable professional standards.
The family told The Post they now plan to hire a lawyer over their dog’s death to hold the clinic accountable but would donate any money they might receive to charity.
A board-certified veterinary surgeon who led Bo’s procedure and treatment at LIVS has been named in at least two lawsuits accusing her of negligence and greed, allegedly leading to the deaths of several pets.
There are GoFundMes also set up by other grieving families to raise money to sue the doctor and LIVS over additional claims of malpractice.
“What they’re doing is very profitable — but it’s blood money,” said lawyer Luis Trujillo, who is representing the plaintiffs in the two malpractice suits against the hospital involving the deaths of dogs involving alleged unnecessary MRIs, one lasting for more than five hours.
People who have claimed to be LIVS workers on such online employment sites as Glassdoor, Indeed and LinkedIn wrote in posts that the hospital is guilty of a “greedy” and “profits over patients” mentality with doctoring medical records and allowing staff to falsify vital signs to cover their mistakes.
“They care more about profit than patient care,” claimed a person who said they were a former veterinary assistant on Glassdoor, with multiple other postings alleging the same.
LIVS did not respond to a Post phone request for comment, nor did Bo’s surgeon through a message to a personal phone linked to her.
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