Fake vet arrested after puppies die at home following C-section, Miami-Dade police say

MIAMI DADE COUNTY, Florida. – Miami-Dade police said they arrested a man posing as a veterinarian on Monday after a litter of puppies died after he allegedly performed a cesarean section on a dog at his home sometime during the 2023 Christmas holiday.

Richard Andino, 39, is accused of practicing medicine without a license at his home in the 17,000 block of Southwest 121st Avenue in the unincorporated area of ​​South Miami Heights.

Police said the dog’s owners dropped off their “mixed-breed designer dog,” Channel, who required a cesarean section, at the house on Christmas Eve.

A police report said Andino had previously informed the owners via text message that he was a licensed veterinarian.

The report states that the couple became suspicious when they went to the address and realized it was not a clinic but a private home, but Andino claimed he would take the dog to the clinic and drop off the puppies there.

“Since their dog was in labor, they decided to trust (Andino) since he was wearing a nurse’s gown,” an investigator wrote.

The owners paid him $1,500, police said, and Andino assured them “that he frequently performed such operations and that they were meeting at his home because it was a holiday.”

On Christmas Day, Andino texted one of the owners saying he could only deliver three puppies, police reported.

The owners “knew at that point that something was wrong” because a previous test showed that Channel was pregnant with six puppies, the report said.

Authorities said the owners went to Andino’s home to pick up Channel and the three surviving puppies, and when “they asked the defendant for the location of his clinic, he told them he could not do it there.”

Police wrote that Andino “told the victims he had an entire room in his home dedicated to performing such procedures.”

The report states that Channel’s owners went home and “noticed that the puppies were not breathing,” prompting one of the owners to perform CPR on one of the puppies.

“During this time, yellow and orange discharge was coming from the puppy’s nose and mouth,” police wrote. “All of the puppies later died.”

Police said their investigation revealed that Andino was never licensed as a veterinarian in Florida. Officers visited his home on Monday and arrested him.

A judge on Tuesday found there was sufficient evidence to charge Andino with practicing veterinary medicine without a license and ordered him to pay $2,500 in prison.