Man Charged With Posing As Veterinarian
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An unlicensed man has been charged with making veterinary house calls in Brooklyn after botching a stomach operation on a dog and agreeing to neuter an undercover investigator’s cat.
Although the Brooklyn district attorney’s office asserts only one instance so far in which Steven Vassall, 28, illegally performed surgery on an animal, investigators suspect he has been acting as a veterinarian for years, a spokesman for the office, Jerry Schmetterer, said.
Mr. Vassall was charged by a grand jury Tuesday falsely representing himself as a veterinarian, torturing and injuring animals, and possessing six hypodermic needles. He did not return repeated calls for comment. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
Mr. Vassall is not a licensed veterinarian or a veterinary technician, a state-run online database showed. Mr. Schmetterer said investigators for the district attorney’s office continue to look for other pet owners who used Mr. Vassall as a veterinarian. Although he made house calls, Mr. Vassall would bring a pet to an unknown location for surgery, the district attorney’s office said.
Mr. Vassall advertised pet services such as a deep ear exam and oxygen therapy. For a “seven-day hospital stay,” Mr.Vassall charged $1,200 a cat. He called his service “The Cat Practice,” according to a price list distributed yesterday at a press conference held by the district attorney’s office.
The charges against Mr.Vassall came after he allegedly injured a dog in August while performing surgery, the indictment states. Mr. Vassall billed the owner of the dog, Raymond Reid, $985 for a surgery in which he opened the dog’s belly, Mr. Schmetterer said.
The dog survived after Mr. Reid later took him to a licensed veterinarian. Mr. Vassall was arrested last Friday in a sting operation in which investigators paid Mr.Vassall for his promise to neuter a cat brought by them, Mr. Schmetterer said. Mr. Vassall was arrested before he left the apartment with the cat.
Mr.Vassall allegedly agreed to charge investigators $135 to neuter the cat, a full $40 more than his advertised price.
