#dr pol

Or, Why Most of the Veterinary Community Don’t Like Him

Basically, he is an old vet who has not kept up with the standard of medicine, and he is proud of it. There’s nothing wrong with being old, and there’s nothing wrong with doing things that have worked for you for years... as long as there is not literal scientific evidence against it. Veterinarians have strict continuing education requirements for a reason!

For example (and these were all ON THE SHOW) - A puppy attacked by another dog or large animal is put in a cage to await treatment and dies as a result. It should have been immediately triaged, placed on oxygen/fluids/pain relief as necessary, and had diagnostics performed to determine the extent of the injuries and required repairs begun, or euthanized if poor prognosis or lack of owner finances. Not allowed to die alone in a cage without treatment. - A dog with a GI obstruction dies. It wasn’t surgerized, euthanized, or even placed on fluids or pain relief to await one of those two fates. It died. - A dog’s tail is amputated without anesthesia or sterile technique. This is not neonatal tail docking (which is unethical to start with). This is an amputation. A surgical procedure in an adult dog. - A dog has an FHO (read: cutting off pieces of bone, which is a type of surgery where it is considered absolutely necessary to be 100% sterile), without proper sterile technique or pain relief. - A Boston Terrier (brachycephalic breed) has its eye removed without sterile technique, pain relief, or, get this - intubation. Intubation is where a tube is placed into the trachea so that oxygen and anesthesia can be delivered to the patient’s lungs. It is not always necessary for very short procedures or on very small animals such as tiny kittens or some exotics, but brachycephalic breeds ALWAYS require intubation during anesthesia. One of the defining characteristics of a brachycephalic is an elongated palate, which causes the “cute” (actually disgusting) snoring/honking/snorting that comes to mind when you think of a pug, English bulldog, or Frenchie. This same elongated palate blocks the airway when it is relaxed, which is the default state when under anesthesia. For all Dr. Pol knew, this animal was not receiving oxygen or anesthesia at all during this procedure.

He has also had official fines and sanctions placed upon him. -  2010 Complaint - $500 fine and 1-year probation. The first complaint was filed against Dr. Pol by a client in 2010 for giving poor advice and misdiagnosing dead puppies via ultrasound. The client had made multiple phone calls to Dr. Pol, complaining that her pregnant dog had passed her due date and was exhibiting a vaginal discharge. The phone calls were not documented, something all veterinarians can be guilty of. But when Dr. Pol and his associate performed an ultrasound days later, Dr. Pol claimed he saw movement from the puppies when, it seems, the 10 puppies were already dead. In 2012, Dr. Pol and his veterinary associates were found to be negligent, fined, placed on probation and ordered to complete some continuing education. During the proceedings, Dr. Pol claimed that he had done nothing wrong except for not documenting the phone calls, and that a jealous ex-associate had complained about him just to cause trouble for him. Nat Geo WILD tried to spin the outcome, stating that the fine was merely for an “administrative complaint, not malpractice or misdiagnosis.”  -  In 2014, a veterinarian filed a different complaint against Dr. Pol stating that when performing surgery on that Boston terrier from above that had been hit by an automobile, Dr. Pol didn’t wear sterile surgical attire. The veterinary board ordered Dr. Pol to pay a $500 fine and serve a year of probation in response to this complaint. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned the disciplinary action in 2016, stating that the evidence provided was not sufficient. - Much more recently (2020) Dr. Pol was placed on professional probation for negligence. He was ordered to complete continuing education “in the areas of small animal surgical preparation and monitoring, and small/large animal aseptic technique.” The case dates back to 2013, when a TV viewer criticized how Dr. Pol performed an ovariohysterectomy on a dog. The state attorney general investigated the matter and filed a complaint against Dr. Pol for "failing to intubate the dog during surgery, failing to use an electronic monitoring device during the procedure, failing to request assistance locating the dog’s uterus during surgery and failing to wear a surgical cap, mask and gown during the procedure." In 2015, the state received another complaint from a horse’s owners stating that Dr. Pol was not wearing a cap, gown or gloves when treating a cut on their horse’s leg and that he had also failed to trim the horse’s hair near the laceration. (It should be noted that in general, a cap and gown are not worn while treating equine leg lacerations. Sterile gloves are not usually worn either, but at minimum, examination gloves should be worn and the wound should be clipped and cleaned before repair. Many times you will discover that the wound is bigger or deeper than it initially appears under all the hair and dirt.) At any rate, his attorney isn’t worried. He says that the appeals process will not have a negative impact on the TV show. “This case demonstrates how the Michigan Veterinary Board makes arbitrary decisions. The Board even agreed that Dr. Pol’s care was competent. We have had these issues with the Board previously, which resulted in the Michigan Court of Appeals reversing the Board for arbitrary and capricious decision-making. Dr. Pol will continue to challenge the Board until a fair and rational process is used for review of veterinary care.”

Another thing that we don’t like about Dr. Pol and vets like him (such as Dr. Jeff) is that they make the rest of us look bad. When we require $400 for an enucleation (eye removal) as above, people whine and complain and say that’s way too high, if you really loved animals you would do it for $70 like Dr. Pol does. The fact of the matter is, you cannot offer good medicine for cheap unless you cut corners in patient safety and comfort (or unless you receive special grants/funding from the government or charitable organizations).