Red Bank Vet Decapitated Dead Cat Without Telling Owner: Lawsuit

RED BANK, NJ – A Hoboken man is suing Red Bank Veterinary Hospital and its parent company after nurses allegedly failed to disclose that his pet’s head would be removed and disposed of following a post-mortem rabies test.

Mario Quesada adopted one-pound kitten Amor in April 2013 just a month after his sister died by suicide, the rapid onset of his mother’s Parkinson’s disease and dementia and the “sudden and traumatic” death of his cousin, according to court documents.

The cat provided an “immeasurable emotional support for Mario during these trying times,” the lawsuit reads, detailing that Amor regularly received annual rabies shots and never left his family's fourth-floor apartment unit.

However, Amor’s time with the Quesadas would be cut tragically short: He fell sick with a blot clot disorder in 2014 and was euthanized on June 25, 2017 after becoming “completely limp” and had difficulty breathing, the lawsuit said.

After the cat was euthanized, a heartbroken Quesada held Amor’s body, sang and spoke to him before a vet came in and said that Amor had bit one of the other nurses, the lawsuit said. The vet said that they had to take a brain tissue sample to test for rabies, with Mario reportedly handing Amor’s vaccination records to the vet.

Amor’s body was supposed to be released the next day to Hamilton Pet Meadow for cremation. Quesada then told the veterinarian that he intended to have a viewing of Amor’s body.

However, a voicemail left for Quesada the next day disclosed that he had given the hospital the wrong information and that Amor’s body could not be released until the state had completed rabies testing.

When Quesada finally viewed Amor’s body on June 30 after the rabies results came back negative, the Hoboken man was left in shock after being presented with his pet’s headless body, a towel where Amor’s head should have been, the lawsuit said.

“Mario did not know prior to arriving at Hamilton Pet Meadow that Friday that Amor had been decapitated. Mario instead beheld the horror of seeing his beloved pet’s headless body,” the lawsuit reads. “While still at Hamilton Pet Meadow, Mario called the Department of Health, who confirmed the worst: Amor’s head had already been disposed of as medical waste in the days prior.”

Red Bank Veterinary Hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Stacy Burdick, chief of staff at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, told The Asbury Park Press in an email that she could not comment on the matter because of the litigation.

Staff at Hamilton Pet Meadow were further “concerned about Mario’s ability to safely drive home to Hoboken” after he was “thrown into a state of shock, crying and screaming” in front of clientele. That evening, Mario called the local police department, asking if they could connect him to any grief counseling services, the lawsuit said.

After calming down, Quesada called a tech supervisor at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital later that night, who allegedly said that there were ways to take a brain tissue sample without decapitating the body, but that the hospital always simply “sends the whole head,” the lawsuit said.

She also confirmed that once the state has completed testing, the hospital can request to have the head sent back to it, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also alleges that the tech supervisor told Mario that the reason the veterinarian and the hospital used a euphemism for the test was because “doctors don’t usually tell people because they think the animal is going for cremation, and they don’t want to upset anyone.”

“No one had previously disclosed these options to Mario in any way,” the lawsuit reads. “ The equipment needed to extract a brain tissue sample without decapitating an animal’s head is relatively cheap and easy to obtain. Nevertheless, the Hospital had either opted not to have this equipment available or else not to use it.”

The lawsuit also claims that New Jersey's Veterinary Procedures Manual states that, “in situations where the animal owner is upset that his/her pet will be decapitated for rabies testing, practitioners can remove the brain, submit it for testing, and return the body of the animal to the owner in (almost) intact condition.”

“The hospital breached its duty to request the return of Amor’s head by failing to inform Mario that it had been removed in the first place, and then by failing to inquire whether Mario wanted the head returned,” the lawsuit reads.

Following the events, Quesada experienced a slew of severe mental health problems that he did not suffer from before, according to the suit, such as: the need for ongoing professional counseling and medications, insomnia, the inability to work, outbursts of anger, flashbacks, hypervigilance, panic attacks, nightmares, depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation, and impulses toward self-harm, and other trauma symptoms, the lawsuit said.

Quesada is suing Red Bank Veterinary Hospital and its parent company Compassion First Pet Hospitals for infliction of emotional stress, bailment and negligence. He is demanding an award of lost wages, pain and suffering and other compensation from the defendants.

The Hoboken man recently testified in March before the Senate Environmental and Energy Committee on a bill aiming to require that owners be notified when their pet is to be decapitated for rabies testing, according to the Asbury Park Press.

While the legislation originally included a provision granting pet owners alternative options to decapitation, the provision was removed after representatives from the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association testified that improper removal of only a pet's brain could compromise testing.