HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – A Harrisonburg vet has had his license suspended and his practice closed until further notice.
dr. Ayman Salem had his license indefinitely suspended by the State Veterinary Council, and his practice, Harrisonburg Emergency Veterinary Clinic, has been closed since March.
After two days of hearings in Richmond late last week, the council has suspended Salem’s veterinary license indefinitely and for a minimum of two years. Former Salem customers and employees said he often failed to provide proper care for animals and abused pet owners.
“People came in and panicked and it was almost like he was taking advantage of that. He took advantage of their vulnerability and their fear. It was always the worst case scenario,” said Allison Cook, who worked for Salem in 2017 as a veterinary assistant.
During her time at the clinic, Cook said things were very disorganized and she saw ongoing cases of malpractice.
“He had left medicine unrefrigerated in the FedEx store this weekend, which is a big no-no, and then he tried to bring it in and administer it to animals,” Cook said.
Another incident that stuck with Cook was when a woman brought in her cat who couldn’t move the back of his body. She said she saw Salem inject a needle into the cat’s hind leg to see if there was blood flow.
“There was no blood flow, so instead of doing further diagnostics, doing further blood work, he told her, ‘He’s not going to make it, you have to put him to sleep.’ He was just so unsympathetic and she was devastated,” Cook said.
Cook recalled an incident where she assisted in surgery on a dog that had swallowed a fishhook. While the surgery went smoothly, she said Salem sent the dog back to its owner with bloody dripping stitches after not dressing the wound properly.
A number of former customers have shared similar stories of Salem not taking good care of animals and sometimes leaving them in a worse condition than before. People also say Salem had a history of overcharging.
“Nobody, nobody walked away for less than $1,000 and they all said this is ridiculous. And then the horror stories, some even lost their animals,” said Cynthia Prieto, a former client of the clinic.
Seven years ago, Prieto brought a dog she was raising to the clinic when she couldn’t stop the bleeding from a cut on his paw pad. What she didn’t know was the price she would pay for the treatment, which included three injections and dressing the wound.
“I walked in and walked out $1,100 later. I’ve had dogs for years and I know there’s never been a visit where a cut on a pad would cost $1,100,” Prieto said.
Prieto said she’s heard many similar stories about Salem’s overcharges from other former customers and said she was surprised it took so long for his license to be suspended.
“My situation was seven years ago, it should have closed years ago and it must be permanent or there must be a better level of accountability because this is a scammer,” she said.
Cook said that during her time at the clinic, situations like this were common.
“I think it was more about the money than anything. There was not much care for the animals, he was just hungry for money,” she said. “Nine times out of ten, the animal’s problem would be so bad that it had to stay overnight, which was automatically an additional $1,000.”
Cook said her last straw before leaving the clinic was when Salem refused to release a dog to its owner after treatment because she couldn’t afford to pay for everything. However, the reputation of Salem’s practice followed Cook when she applied for her next job.
“When I got my next job after I left, they saw the name on my resume and it was an automatic red flag for them. It was the first question she asked me, she said, ‘You worked for him, that worries me, we’ve had a lot of problems,’ and I had to explain to her that I left beyond moral judgment,” she said.
Another former client, Donna Knight, mentioned an incident where she took her dog to the clinic and Salem gave him an injection that was contraindicated with drugs he was already taking.
“When I was able to go to my regular vet, I wrote down what had been done to me. The shot could have killed my dog. My vet said it was a miracle it wasn’t,” Knight said.
Knight also recalled having to pay upfront before any treatment was given to her dog and then pay again for the treatment.
Salem’s attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.
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