Veterinarian Proudly Shows Off Cat She Killed

I must have lived a very sheltered life, because in over 30 years of working in the veterinary profession (as a tech and a DVM), I have only met one who professed a “hatred” of cats.

And you would be very surprised to know who that nationally famous one is. (No, I’m not naming names.)

OTOH, I have had the distinct pleasure of having known the late Dr. Jean Holzworth, sometimes referred to as “the mother of feline medicine.”

[QUOTE=Coyoteco;8115593]
It is pretty clear that I edited that post within ten minutes of posting. If you knew that was a rumor out there about Kerri Camp, perhaps your addressing it in advance would have been helpful.

“Some say” = unsubstantiated statement worth investigating. It seemed that here was a good place to investigate that. Anyone who thinks that “some say” equals a statement of fact is not operating on an adult level.
eta and I specifically addressed this post to you, a person who professes to have all the facts about the case so even that criticism of my post is unfounded. No one can ask you a question about this now without being accuse of lying? Seriously?

I am now left with who is Kerri Camp and who is the “other person”?[/QUOTE]

As near as I can figure her short bio is here http://equinevetob.com/team/ I can’t see all the website at work so if you see anything interesting let me know.
BTW her facebook page has been taken down.

Inca,

I do applaud the vet clinic firing Ms Lindsey and refusing to use her normal honorific. However she did really give them a pretty big black eye and I would suggest they get very pro active is demonstrating just how cat friendly they are. They could even name there effort to get there in honor of Tiger who is rumored to have been a patient there. It would be very fitting and getting the AAFP designation would fill a definite lack of a feline specialist in that area. Quick search showed 5 Vet clinics not one had even an AAFP member on staff. Let Washington Animal Clinic fill that need in Tiger’s memory.

(added benefit, any new equine vet they hire to replace Lindsey would know that to using cats for target practice is not something their employer would approve of.)

[QUOTE=inca;8115620]
So it is my responsibility to address every internet rumor out there so people don’t repeat completely false information?

And go read my post #84. I clearly state that people are harassing the clinic via their Facebook page (which they have sadly had to take down) to fire Keri Camp but the problem is that Keri Camp works at a clinic in Mississippi.[/QUOTE]

When I address a post to you in the nature of a question about something I read on the vet association website (I think that website rather than CSU’s), you could answer it or could get mad and insulting because I should have read all of your posts in the past and know what you’ve said. I had read most of your posts but had missed that one. I suppose we know what you chose to do:).

For perspective, I wouldn’t have answered that I “really liked” cats on that survey either. But I have four spoiled rotten house cats, one of whom I rushed into work the other night because he was squinting a little. So I do not think it’s fair in any way to equate the results of that survey with overalls treatment or knowledge of felines.

On that AAFP website I too noticed a lot of names I wouldn’t take my animals to, and a big one who was “missing” was the local vet who has devoted a large portion of his time and education to treating hyperthyroid cats, who are pretty much the worst patients ever. They’re chronically stressed, hungry, and typically very vocal and angry, which makes their neighbors more reactive too. I never saw anything less than upmost care and compassion for those cats, he treated them all so well and many of them behaved better for him than anyone else in the clinic. But he’s not on the list either.

I wouldn’t necessarily be offended if my vet didn’t love cats. Cats are pretty divisive creatures and some people just don’t click with them. I can imagine that can be compounded in veterinary practices, where cats are often found saying, “NUH UH, DON’T WANNA” with their teeth and claws. I don’t think loving cats is a prerequisite to treating them thoughtfully and humanely.

I would definitely have a problem if my vet (who treats my cat) professed a hatred of cats. Would you ever take your child to a pediatrician who professes to hate children? A geriatric physician who hates the elderly? No way. That type of strong feeling would make me nervous that it would somehow influence their treatment style.

As to the feral cat side of things, I can understand the people who feel feral cats are a problem. The oft-cited songbird destruction study is very limited and (IMO) often misapplied, but I do understand the general attitude. I am not necessarily against humanely euthanizing feral cats.

All that aside, there is absolutely nothing humane about catching a cat in a leg trap and shooting it with a bow and arrow at close range. It is absolutely indefensible. It is indefensible whether it’s a dog, a cat, a raccoon or a rodent.

I can’t believe some people on this board are defending this person, even if you’re only defending her motive. There is just nothing about her thought process or her actions that is okay.

[QUOTE=Paks;8111545]
…Perhaps some boyfriend who loves hunting and hates cats? and under his influence she thinks this behavior is perfectly acceptable? Pure speculation but really you have to wonder who is holding the camera because whoever it is they obviously approved.[/QUOTE]

Really…trying to blame a male for her actions? She can’t be evil on her own? How about her girlfriend hating cats as an option? Very sad. I have 3 cats (strictly indoor Siamese, Havana Brown and long-haired barn rescue). Most guys I know like cats.

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8115486]
I am confused why every vet that goes thru vet school has to love cats or there is going to be a cat apocalypse because some less than brilliant vet killed one with an arrow?

There are lots of people who do not like cats, but will very much tolerate them.

Did we miss the point that the person who did this was a large animal vet (equine I believe from what was posted here) so treating cats was not part of her job.

You are allowed to totally love one type of animal and not really like another type of animal and still be a really darn good vet.

Are we going to hate on the vets that start a cat only practice because they are not treating dogs?

The person who posted that photo with those captions is an idiot. Period. It does not mean we have to jump to extremes and decide every vet that does not scream love about cats is going to go around killing them on purpose.[/QUOTE]

Uh? I missed something. Can you point to where someone said Vet’s have to scream that they love cats? I think we are pretty far away from that if they are making jokes about shooting them in Vet school. Definitely a bridge too far.

Also did you miss that the clinic the vet worked for was small and large animal? Even if she only worked on horses she missed the memo that shooting her co worker’s patients is frowned upon.

I what I want is to know which vets actually care about my pet cat’s welfare when I take my cat to them. An no I would not want to hire an equine vet who joked about shooting cats in vet school. I have working TNR cats on my farm and to do their job of rodent control they need to be outside. If my equine vet is one who hates cats their attitude towards them would affect their visits to treat my horses as my working cats are usually present in the barn doing their job.

Basically I want my vet to at least be respectful of all animals. If they hunt fine but if you hunt it, eat it. Don’t hunt because you get joy out of killing things.

Personally I can’t abide small yippy dogs but I never joke about killing them.

[QUOTE=Trakehner;8115746]
Really…trying to blame a male for her actions? She can’t be evil on her own? How about her girlfriend hating cats as an option? Very sad. I have 3 cats (strictly indoor Siamese, Havana Brown and long-haired barn rescue). Most guys I know like cats.[/QUOTE]I’ll admit I was stretching, trying to give her some benefit of the doubt. But nope it appears to be all her with her family and friends cheering her on.

This!!!

[QUOTE=Coyoteco;8115577]
Well, there is sane and there is competent. Acting in a sane way may not necessarily require that you like cats, but being their doctor such that you are competent in their care does usually require that you like them. Perhaps this phrase of “like cats” should be explored a bit.

There is a lot of absolute hatred of cats out there. For decades it prevented the advancement of feline medicine. Read the comments about this case around the net and see the absolute hatred of cats. It’s not about “liking” and animal. It’s about the irrational hatred in the veterinary field and among lay people that is expressed against cats. On horse boards, it is all over the place. From the people who express their ultra compassionate personalities while not taking care of their cats, and laughing about their kittens whose ears have frost bite, or the otherwise sane and seemingly good person who brags about shooting 20 cats, and over and over.

I look back at even relatively recent experiences with vets and see the difference with some - not my vets. There are some cat specialist vets out there and that’s a good choice.

Many people literally hate cats and as it isn’t quite as socially acceptable to say that today as it was 20 years ago, it is still a societal prejudice that needs to be addressed. This tragic crime may afford the opportunity to do just that.[/QUOTE]

Exactly! Thank you for this post.
I think we are just entering the phase where it is not "funny, or “normal” to hate cats. That those who like cats are usually older single, often unbalanced women.

Even among the horse world, “everybody” likes dogs, but it is just fine to hate cats, or joke about them as some species less worthy than dogs.

[QUOTE=Paks;8115758]
Uh? I missed something.[/QUOTE]
You did miss something, a whole post pointing out how wrong this person was for shooting a cat, which I totally agreed to at the bottom of my post.

My point was simply similar to what some have said since I posted, one does not have to answer “really likes cats” on a survey to care about giving them proper care.
I just think it is wrong to assume that the proper care of cats is being ignored because some survey given to vet students is showing not many checked the “really like” box.

Again, this person was wrong! Period.
That does not make every vet that did not check “really like” is a person who is going out to kill cats or spewing cat hate.

For the record, I have no idea if my equine vet likes or does not like cats. I have never asked them. They are at my farm to treat my horses, not my cats.

[QUOTE=Coyoteco;8115264]
On the CSU website, a some say that the clinic was aware of this and didn’t act until it became highly public and people expressed their opinions about it. A couple of people there say that one of the remaining clinic vets, Kerri Camp, laughed about the torture killing. If that is true, she, too, should be fired.

Correction: Apparently there is a post in this thread that identifies Kerri Camp as a vet in Mississippi and not with the Texas clinic.[/QUOTE]

Sorry but I didn’t see a QUESTION directed at me in this post. Did I miss the actual question you asked of me?

I apologize if I didn’t answer a question that I didn’t see being asked. I must have misinterpreted this post, which appeared to me to be simply repeating untrue information that the clinic did not act promptly or appropriately.

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8115812]
For the record, I have no idea if my equine vet likes or does not like cats. I have never asked them. They are at my farm to treat my horses, not my cats.[/QUOTE]

When I have a professional treat my animals I operate under the assumption that they like animals in general enough to respect any animal that may be on the property. Once caught an otherwise very good farrier kicking a barn cat. To say that was the last time he worked on my horse (who he was very kind and patient with) is just scratching the surface of what ensued.

It was hard to find a replacement whose work was on par but there is just no way I can trust a professional who works with animals who thinks it’s okay to mistreat an animal of any kind.

I understand the person in the OP wasn’t going around treating horses and abusing cats that were on the property (as far as we know) but I feel the same way about finding out that a vet or other professional harbors such strong feelings of hatred towards an animal. It just does not compute with the respectful treatment I expect.

[QUOTE=inca;8115824]
Sorry but I didn’t see a QUESTION directed at me in this post. Did I miss the actual question you asked of me?

I apologize if I didn’t answer a question that I didn’t see being asked. I must have misinterpreted this post, which appeared to me to be simply repeating untrue information that the clinic did not act promptly or appropriately.[/QUOTE]

Yes. You completely misread my post.

[QUOTE=Trakehner;8115746]
Really…trying to blame a male for her actions? She can’t be evil on her own? How about her girlfriend hating cats as an option? Very sad. I have 3 cats (strictly indoor Siamese, Havana Brown and long-haired barn rescue). Most guys I know like cats.[/QUOTE]I’ll admit I was stretching, trying to give her some benefit of the doubt. But nope it appears to be all her with her family and friends cheering her on.

Since I live in a big city I have access to a few vet practices that only treat cats. They love cats, know how to handle cats and are obviously very competent with cats.

[QUOTE=trubandloki;8115812]
You did miss something, a whole post pointing out how wrong this person was for shooting a cat, which I totally agreed to at the bottom of my post.

My point was simply similar to what some have said since I posted, one does not have to answer “really likes cats” on a survey to care about giving them proper care.
I just think it is wrong to assume that the proper care of cats is being ignored because some survey given to vet students is showing not many checked the “really like” box.

Again, this person was wrong! Period.
That does not make every vet that did not check “really like” is a person who is going out to kill cats or spewing cat hate.

For the record, I have no idea if my equine vet likes or does not like cats. I have never asked them. They are at my farm to treat my horses, not my cats.[/QUOTE] Uh again sorry I still don’t see the post you are referring to where it says that “every vet that goes thru vet school has to love cats or there is going to be a cat apocalypse because some less than brilliant vet killed one with an arrow?” Could you please point this post out? or were you just making it up that people had said that. If so, in the future please let us know what parts of your posts are false and what part are truthful in the future. It would save a lot of confusion.

And yes I understand that you don’t care if your equine vet likes or does not like cats. Just like my male coworkers don’t care that my boss is a misogynist who is only comfortable talking to white males. I totally get that and have lived with that no skin off my nose reasoning for most of my career. But I will tell you. If I ever pick up that any of the equine vets in my clinic thinks jokes about shooting cats are funny or even takes aim at one. That’s it, there are plenty of equine vets in my area and it is very easy to find a new one. Respect for life is a very important quality for me in a vet.

I honestly don’t know whether my small animal vet loves cats, hates cats or is indifferent to them. I do know every kitten season he has a large cage filled with abandoned kittens that he vets for free and rehomes. He usually has a couple dogs he’s doing the same for. When he’s treated my cats he’s been patient and thorough. When I was looking for a barn cat, he recommended a feral from the pound that he’d treated for a degloved tail. He said if I adopted the cat he’d do the amputation on his tail for free. He was very mad when the pound refused to adopt the cat out, saying it was too aggressive. It was aggressive, the vet knew and I knew it, but was what I was looking for in a barn cat.

To be honest, I try never to leave my animal with the vet or the techs without being present. I never leave a check for the farrier. If anyone is handling my animal, I want to be there.

BTW, my large animal vet occasionally hunts. He insists on only hunting animals he’ll eat. He said he went to a dove hunt once and most of the guys left their kill behind. He took up all of them and ate them. He said if an animal was going to give it’s life, there ought to be someone to benefit.

StG

It’s true that many go to vet school without liking or even having any experience with animals.

We have become approved for pre-vet students to earn hours/credit/something (the boss handles that stuff) interning here. We had some out for kidding season and I confess, I was startled at how little some of them knew about animals at all and the reactions some had to birthing or normal animal behavior.

On the other hand, we had some amazing interns that I hope look more into goats as a species as they grow in popularity. We really need vets who are interesting in having knowledge in goats, because in all my years, I can count on one hand with fingers left over vets that gave me competent advice for this species. (No fault of their own, the education simply isn’t there)

But some of them…oh boy. “Ewww” is not a reaction I expected to get when I was birthing a kid and they were observing. Some didn’t even have any experience with small animal pets, cats and dogs.

But there’s every chance in the world they will become good vets, so I hope they do well. Although I confess, there’s a few I have requested do not return for next kidding season - they caused me more work and stress instead of less, and I don’t get paid to babysit except on Dairy Days.

[QUOTE=french fry;8115711]
I wouldn’t necessarily be offended if my vet didn’t love cats. Cats are pretty divisive creatures and some people just don’t click with them. I can imagine that can be compounded in veterinary practices, where cats are often found saying, “NUH UH, DON’T WANNA” with their teeth and claws. I don’t think loving cats is a prerequisite to treating them thoughtfully and humanely.

I would definitely have a problem if my vet (who treats my cat) professed a hatred of cats. Would you ever take your child to a pediatrician who professes to hate children? A geriatric physician who hates the elderly? No way. That type of strong feeling would make me nervous that it would somehow influence their treatment style.

As to the feral cat side of things, I can understand the people who feel feral cats are a problem. The oft-cited songbird destruction study is very limited and (IMO) often misapplied, but I do understand the general attitude. I am not necessarily against humanely euthanizing feral cats.

All that aside, there is absolutely nothing humane about catching a cat in a leg trap and shooting it with a bow and arrow at close range. It is absolutely indefensible. It is indefensible whether it’s a dog, a cat, a raccoon or a rodent.

I can’t believe some people on this board are defending this person, even if you’re only defending her motive. There is just nothing about her thought process or her actions that is okay.[/QUOTE]

I agree with every word.

We take our animals to a clinic with multiple doctors. One is a cat specialist, but all of them are very good with cats in general. They aren’t on that AAFP listing for my area, but I would recommend them without hesitation to any other cat owners.

We did leave a previous practice for a sort of related reason - the main vet retired, and his successor did not like dogs, which we didn’t find out until we were refused an appointment one day. The successor was great with our cats, but was completely unprofessional when we called for the appointment and that’s when we learned about the deep dislike of dogs. The vet was quite clear on her position, we were clear on why we left, and our current clinic is wonderful. I was surprised by learning that about the successor vet, as I had assumed she liked all small animals since it was a small animal practice. Maybe I should start asking prospective vets if they like the type of animal I’m bringing in?