A man acting as a veterinarian is said to have conducted a C-section on a dog at his home sometime around the Christmas holiday in 2023, according to Miami-Dade police, who say they arrested him on Monday. This occurred after a litter of puppies perished.
At his residence in the unincorporated South Miami Heights neighborhood, on the 17000 block of Southwest 121st Avenue, Richard Andino, 39, is charged with practicing medicine without a license.
The owner of the “mixed-breed, designer dog,” Channel, needed a C-section, and was brought to the house on Christmas Eve, according to the police.
According to an arrest complaint, Andino had previously texted the owners to confirm that he was a licensed veterinarian.
The two reportedly grew skeptical when they arrived at the address and saw that they were at a residence rather than a clinic, but Andino said he would be bringing the dog to the hospital to give birth to the puppies there.
An investigator stated, “Due to their dog being in labor, they decided to trust (Andino) since he was dressed in nurse’s scrubs.”
Andino gave them the assurance that “he performed these type(s) of surgeries frequently and (said) that the reason that they were meeting (him) at his house was because it was the holiday,” according to the police, after the owners paid him $1,500.
According to the authorities, Andino texted one of the owners on Christmas Day to inform them that he could only deliver three puppies.
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According to the complaint, the owners “knew something was wrong” at that moment since Channel had tested positive for six puppies earlier.
When “they confronted the defendant about the location of his clinic, he told them that he couldn’t do it there,” according to the authorities, the owners proceeded to Andino’s house to pick up Channel and the three surviving puppies.
Andino “told the victims that he had a whole room in his house to conduct these types of procedures,” according to a police report.
According to the complaint, one of Channel’s owners had to administer CPR on a puppy after returning home and seeing the puppies “were not breathing.”
“During this time, yellow and orange discharge came out of the puppy’s nose and mouth,” police stated. “All of the puppies later died.”
Andino has never held a Florida veterinarian license, according to the police report on the results of their inquiry. On Monday, police visited his house and took him into custody.
Andino was placed under arrest on a $2,500 bond after a judge on Tuesday determined there was sufficient evidence to charge him with practicing veterinary care without a license.
