MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police say they arrested a man posing as a veterinarian Monday after a litter of puppies died after he’s believed to have performed a C-section on a dog at his home sometime during the Christmas holiday in 2023.
Richard Andino, 39, is accused of practicing without a license at his home in the 17000 block of Southwest 121st Avenue in the unincorporated South Miami Heights area.
Police said the dog’s owners dropped off their “mixed-breed, designer dog” Channel, who required a C-section, at the home on Christmas Eve.
Andino had previously texted the owners that he was a licensed veterinarian, an arrest report states.
The report states that the pair became suspicious after going to the address and realizing that they were at a home instead of a clinic, but Andino claimed he would be taking the dog to the hospital and delivering the puppies there.
“Due to their dog being in labor, they decided to trust (Andino) since he was dressed in nurse’s scrubs,” an investigator wrote.
The owners paid him $1,500, police said, and Andino assured them “that he performed these type(s) of surgeries frequently and (said) that the reason that they were meeting (him) at his house was because it was the holiday.”
On Christmas Day, Andino texted one of the owners and said he was only able to deliver three puppies, police said.
The owners “knew something was wrong” at that point, because a previous test showed that Channel was pregnant with six puppies, the report states.
Authorities said that the owners went to Andino’s home to pick up Channel and the three surviving puppies and when “they confronted the defendant about the location of his clinic, he told them that he couldn’t do it there.”
Police wrote that Andino “told the victims that he had a whole room in his house to conduct these types of procedures.”
The report states that Channel’s owners went home and “noticed the puppies were not breathing,” prompting one of the owners to perform CPR on a puppy.
“During this time, yellow and orange discharge came out of the puppy’s nose and mouth,” police wrote. “All of the puppies later died.”
Police said that their investigation revealed that Andino has never been a licensed veterinarian in Florida. Officers went to his home Monday and arrested him.
Local 10 News visited the Southwest 121st Avenue residence on Tuesday. A man was there and dropped his pants and showed his backside to Local 10 News cameras.
He later declined to comment when Local 10 News knocked on the door of the home, telling reporter Liane Morejon to leave the property.
A judge found probable cause Tuesday to charge Andino with practicing veterinary medicine without a license and ordered him held on a $2,500 bond.