Urgent: Demand Revocation of Cruel Veterinarian's License

Undercover video footage taken in September revealed that inmate workers at the Sumner County Animal Shelter in Tennessee were lifting dogs into the air by the skin on their necks and/or by their collars and dangling them in front of veterinarian William Baber, who jabbed them in their chests with a needle, apparently in violation of Tennessee law. Cats were seen strangled on noose poles and held on the ground while a worker stepped on their back legs and Baber stepped on their front legs or chest and then stabbed the animals in their stomachs or chests with a needle.

News reports and state documents indicate that this is not the first time Baber has violated the law. In 2004, he was assessed penalties of more than $2,550 by the Tennessee Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME) for operating an unlicensed facility. He was also reportedly reprimanded "several months ago" by the Sumner County executive for using illegal intracardiac injections at the animal shelter. After the footage aired, Sumner County fired Baber, but the TBVME recently reinstituted his license, allowing him to have contact with defenseless animals.

Intracardiac injections, which are extremely painful and have been deemed "unacceptable" by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), involve the penetration of a needle through an animal's rib cage, chest wall, and sensitive tissue—often including the lungs and a sheath of nerves between the ribs—and directly into the animal's beating heart. The 2000 Report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia (Panel Report)—the veterinary medical authority on euthanasia—reports that intracardiac injections are "not considered acceptable in awake animals" (emphasis added).

Tennessee law is clear. Section 44-17-303 of the state code says the following about euthanizing animals by injection of sodium pentobarbital: "A lethal solution shall be used in the following order of preference: 1) Intravenous injection by hypodermic needle; 2) Intraperitoneal injection by hypodermic needle; 3) Intracardial injection by hypodermic needle, but only if performed on heavily sedated, anesthetized or comatose animals ..." (emphasis added).

TBVME suspended Baber's license but then reinstituted it after only days. In light of the clear and unquestionable evidence against Baber, PETA is demanding that his license be revoked. A TBVME hearing is scheduled for December 13.

Demand that the TBVME protect animals by revoking Baber's license. Ask that the agency also take punitive action on behalf of the animals who have been cruelly and apparently illegally killed by this veterinarian.