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Entry 136Filed under Breeding

Vet Cleared Over Pug’s Death at Grimsby Practice

The RCVS accepted Niffler’s owners believed overnight monitoring had been promised, but said the alleged statement was not proved and dismissed both charges against vet David Hurley.
3-minute read By Animalso Team
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Veterinary surgeon David Hurley was cleared of two disciplinary charges after the RCVS Disciplinary Committee could not be sure he had told the owners of Niffler, a pug treated at Abbey Veterinary Centre in Grimsby, that she would be monitored overnight. The committee accepted that the owners genuinely believed overnight observation had been promised, but said misunderstanding or miscommunication could not be ruled out. It therefore dismissed both charges without deciding the separate allegation of dishonesty.

What happened to Niffler?

On the evening of 19 April 2022, Niffler, about 18 months old, became unwell, vomited, deteriorated and collapsed. Her owners took her to Abbey Veterinary Centre in Grimsby, where Hurley examined and treated her. The RCVS decision records that he gave her oxygen and intravenous fluids, after which she became more alert, and carried out initial diagnostic checks.

The owners said they understood from conversations at the practice and a later telephone call that Niffler would be watched through the night. The decision records differing recollections of the precise wording and how often it was said. The alleged call was around 22:04.

It was not disputed that Niffler was not monitored throughout the night. Hurley said he left the practice at about 11 p.m. and returned between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Niffler had died and was found the following morning.

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What were the charges?

Alleged promise of overnight monitoring

The first charge alleged that during a consultation and telephone call on 19 April, Hurley told an owner that Niffler would be monitored and kept under observation all night, or words to that effect.

Alleged misleading or dishonest conduct

The second charge alleged that Hurley was misleading and/or dishonest because he did not intend to provide the overnight monitoring. Hurley denied promising all-night monitoring. He said he had intended to keep Niffler at the practice for further investigation and that any references to monitoring meant the hours he expected to remain there. He also said the practice did not have a waking night shift and apologized if he had not made the arrangement sufficiently clear. These are accounts recorded in the decision; they do not establish exactly what words were spoken.

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Why did the committee dismiss the charges?

The RCVS Disciplinary Committee had to be sure that the facts alleged had occurred—the highest civil standard used in these proceedings. The regulator describes the test as requiring the committee to be satisfied “so as to be sure” of the alleged facts.

The committee accepted that Niffler’s owners honestly believed she would be monitored overnight and acted on that belief. But it could not be sure Hurley had made the statement as alleged. It said it could not rule out that the parties had been speaking at cross-purposes, or that stress and differing assumptions had led to a misunderstanding about the level or duration of care. As committee chair Hilary Lloyd put it: “In all the circumstances, the Committee was unable to rule out the possibility that the parties had been speaking at cross-purposes.”

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Because the alleged promise was not proved, the committee did not go on to decide whether Hurley had been misleading or dishonest. The RCVS said both charges were dismissed. That is not a finding that the owners fabricated their recollections, nor a finding that Niffler received overnight monitoring.

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Was this a finding about the standard of veterinary care?

No. The written decision explicitly says there was no allegation in this case about the standard of clinical care Hurley provided to Niffler. The disciplinary case concerned what he allegedly told the owners about overnight observation and the related allegation of misleading or dishonest conduct.

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