August 20, 2013
Conflict of interest cited as motivating factor for false reporting/non-treatment of injured animals
SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) today filed two complaints with the Veterinary Medical Board of California against Tim Eastman, the veterinarian of record for the California Rodeo Salinas. The first complaint deals with his underreporting of the number of injured animals, while the second deals with his lack of care for those same injured animals.
In his report of injuries that is mandated by state law, Eastman stated that only three animals were injured. SHARK, however, video-documented twenty-three animals that had been injured during the rodeo. A video showing each of these injured animals has been published on YouTube.
California law (4830.8 of the Business and Professions Code) states that "attending or on-call veterinarians at a rodeo event are required to report to the Veterinary Medical Board any animal injury at the event requiring veterinary treatment within 48 hours of the conclusion of the rodeo."
On the California Veterinary Medical Board website (http://www.vmb.ca.gov/consumers/comp_inf.shtml) it states that "Anyone who witnesses or believes that a licensed veterinarian or unlicensed person's behavior or activities may cause harm (or the potential for harm) to animal patients or may be illegal, can file a complaint."