He removed the kidneys of shelter dogs to save purebred dogs. The vet heard the sentence
The court of second instance found a Warsaw vet guilty of mutilating dogs. The man performed unethical kidney transplants on animals.
The case of veterinarian Jacek S. came to light after he boasted about his experiment in an industry magazine. It quickly turned out that he had taken the kidney for transplant from a dog from a shelter to save a purebred animal that had an owner.
The vet transplanted kidneys into dogs
The dog Saturn, missing one kidney, was later put up for adoption, but quickly returned to the shelter. The new guardian was not informed about the dog’s missing kidney. It came to light by accident, during routine tests.
Jacek S.’s actions took place in 2013. The public only found out about everything in 2018. The matter was publicized by Saturn’s guardians, with the help of the Viva! foundation. In addition to Saturn’s case, abuse of a homeless dog, Tosia, was also described. She also had a kidney removed to give it to the dog that owned the house.
In the first instance, the District Court for Warsaw Mokotów acquitted the accused veterinarian. Only in the second instance did the judge agree with the arguments of the Viva! foundation that one cannot save the life of one animal at the expense of another. The district court reminded that all animal transplants are ethically and morally questionable experiments.
On November 14, Jacek S. was found guilty of animal cruelty and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years. He was also banned from practicing his profession for three years. Two damages of PLN 10,000 were ordered to be paid. PLN to Viva! foundations and Mondo Cane.
Unethical vet. Dogs are ‘victims of human ambition’
In an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza”, lawyer Katarzyna Topaczewska representing the Viva! foundation commented on the verdict, calling it a “huge success.” – Organ transplants in animals do not save the life or health of the donor, which is obvious even to a layman. It’s quite the opposite. Such a transplant mutilates a healthy animal in order to extend the life of another animal, she reminded.
– In my opinion, all animals that were the subject of transplantation, that were the subject of this process, became victims of people’s ambitions – she concluded.
