Daniel Doherty

BVetMed MRCVS

Candidate 4 of 10

Proposers: Alex Li, Dr Sarah Randall

Address and contact details

Myvet 24-7, 258 Cowley Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2NJ

T 01895 271 444

M 07702 330 971E danjamesdoherty@hotmail.com

W www.myvet24-7.co.uk

Candidate biography

Born in Belfast, I am married to a former Crown Prosecutor/solicitor and we have a 9 yo son. I qualified from the RVC in 1991, commenced working in small animal mixed practice in Brentwood in a clinic with a special interest in racing greyhounds. From 1998 I moved to Central and West London employed by small animal independent veterinary clinics until gaining enough experience to open my own small animal clinic in Uxbridge in 2008, MyVet 24-7.

My clinic provides cost effective small animal facilities and hydrotherapy, providing high standard experienced care, empowering clientele to afford treatment. I worked 7 days, 7 nights per week without break for over 10 years until imprisonment in 2018 for 3.5 years. I was charged with conspiracy to defraud, pleaded no case to answer and was convicted for providing vaccinations for puppy farmed animals that were later misrepresented by sellers to the public as home reared. The Court of Appeal quashed the conviction in 2019 and ordered a retrial. During retrial contempt of court in my view prejudiced justice. I have always maintained my innocence.

Outside of work I have been a regular beneficiary of VetLife and Samaritans services!

Candidate statement 

I believe in upholding the reputation of our profession and am outraged by media manipulation of truths to service emotive agenda and have been the personal recipient of much social media hatred. Our profession cannot afford to ignore the damaging effects upon sensitive animal carers, escalating their mental health risks, with inevitable casualties leaving our profession, imposing increasing strains upon those left standing. New graduates desert this profession, following years of education and debt, in part due to unchallenged malicious inaccurate personal attacks, broadcast with impunity by a minority of often ignorant malevolent individuals.

I believe that as a profession we need to act to stop production of genetically flawed pedigree dogs designed to have medical problems, destined to lives of misery whilst their often unsuspecting owners struggle to afford the escalating medical/surgical costs prior to their frequently untimely deaths. Most of my working day is occupied treating and managing disorders directly relating to poor breeding practice, with pedigree certification that may mislead the public, validating and authenticating their purchase. We should not be tools of oppression of the animal owning public but lead in calling out poor breeding.

As outlined in the recent VDS article-I am Fred!- you too might also be unwitting conspirators, yet shockingly no one has told you how to protect yourself, nor clarified what my case was about and most concerningly no revised guidance on vaccination cards has been issued, whilst I challenge the legal basis of the case. Indeed it seems that no one dares to publish the truth about my case for fear of reputational damage to the private prosecutor. Our profession should be more proactive in managing risks, educating more on crime prevention and we should seriously question our traditional links and cooperation with charities that have lost their way.

Note from the RCVS: For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Doherty was convicted following the retrial referred to in the candidate biography above. Mr Doherty has indicated that he is in the process of a formal application for a review of this conviction by the Criminal Case Review Commission.

Questions from the profession and the candidates' answers 

• What are the candidates’ thoughts and suggested solutions for the shortage of clinical veterinary surgeons in the UK?

Veterinary student training should focus on practical training for 1st opinion care, even encouraging paid employment in clinics rather than referral level training to better equip new graduates for the 1st months of employ, rather than absorb valuable business time teaching essential skills.

Following RSPCA v Doherty, I believe we are now expected to conduct extensive forensic investigations on our work to protect ourselves and staff from potential prosecution. The potential opportunity for fraudsters to abuse new remote prescribing proposals is greater. I believe the ethical principle of double effect no longer applies to animal welfare.

To save time, and reputation we must stop vaccination of animals for onward sale, only providing this care to new owners, accept the consequential suffering rather than acquiesce additional incumbencies that are and always will be outside our control, interfering with our already overwhelming role and safety as legitimate care providers.

• What would be your view on the definition of ‘puppy farming’?

Puppy farming is not illegal!

Puppy farming is a derogatory and emotive title given to the hypocritical production of dogs to satisfy this country’s insatiable appetite for cheap puppies irrespective of welfare.

The production system must produce puppies at profit for the business and may be achieved by prioritising profit over welfare.

This may be achieved in larger scale systems similar to the food production industry (often in old former non puppy farms), or by smaller scale domestic breeders.

Domestic breeders (“home reared”) mostly produce pedigree puppies, with greatest profits achieved manufacturing breeds with conformational defects often necessitating caesarean veterinarian assistance with the progeny requiring lifelong veterinary support, whereas the larger scale operations often choose robust hybrid breeds less prone to defects with lower profit margin compensated by greater numbers.

Puppy farms produce 53% of UK puppies, and if we are to continue to tolerate them must be effectively regulated.