AUSTIN - A hearing for Lou Tierce, whose veterinary license was suspended in the wake of his arrest on animal cruelty charges, is under way with dozens of his supporters in the audience.
Tierce’s attorney spoke first. He said that there have been tales of a “vampire running a shop of horrors” but that that was not the case.
Tierce’s clinic in west Fort Worth had been raided on April 29 after a woman filed a complaint with the state, saying a dog she took in to be euthanized was being kept alive and used for blood transfusions.
Tierce, owner of the Camp Bowie Animal Clinic in west Fort Worth, called the allegations “a bunch of hooey.”
Tierce’s license was temporarily suspended by the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Friday’s hearing was to determine if the license should be reinstated or revoked.
Speaking at the hearing, Tierce said he enjoyed performing orthopedic surgery and wanted to be “on the cutting edge of the cutting edge.”
While other complaints have since been filed against Tierce, others have lined up in support of the 71-year-old doctor, even creating a Facebook page. Many traveled by caravan to Austin for the hearing.
Before the hearing began, supporters were told that no public comment would be allowed.
On Thursday, Tierce was sued by the family that filed a complaint with the state accusing him of keeping their dog alive after they thought it was euthanized. The lawsuit seeks $1 million in damages.
The suit, filed in Tarrant County civil court, alleges that Tierce deceived Jamie and Marian Harris by recommending that their 4-year-old Leonberger, Sid, be euthanized after he could no longer walk and because he was suffering from a congenital spinal defect.
Several months later, the Harrises discovered that Sid was still alive and was apparently being used for “blood extractions” when a former employee, Mary Brewer, contacted them.
Last week, Tierce’s license was temporarily suspended after investigators found animals living in deplorable and unsanitary conditions.
Tierce could not be reached Thursday to comment on the Harrises’ allegations.
In their lawsuit, the Harris’ alleged that Tierce initially told them that Sid needed minor anal gland treatment in May 2013. They often visited Sid and were told he was getting better.
But in September, Jamie Harris went to see his dog and discovered that Sid could not lift his hind quarters.
In October, the family was told that Sid had the degenerative spinal defect and the Harrises reluctantly decided to have him euthanized. They even discussed burial at Tierce’s farm.
But they later learned that Sid allegedly was injured when an employee “flipped” the dog into a bathtub, and the dog landed on his back in an unnatural position, the lawsuit said.
When the Harrises learned that Sid was still alive, they immediately rescued him from the clinic.
Tierce was arrested a day after Fort Worth police and state investigators raided the clinic and he admitted to authorities that he kept five dogs alive after their owners left them to be euthanized - including one that was caged for two to three years.
Tierce said he believed the decision was his and not the owners’, state documents say.
Investigators reported what one vet called “deplorable” conditions during the raid.
Three dogs at the clinic were in “such decrepit shape” that they had to be euthanized. Two of those, Tierce admitted to investigators, had been left at his clinic to be euthanized.
This report includes information from Star-Telegram archives.
