A vet nurse has been found guilty of repeatedly and purposely poisoning her own dog, causing the dog to collapse and suffer convulsions and seizures. The harm she caused was so bad that the dog could have easily fallen into a coma or died, according to the court proceedings.
Georgina Bretman was before the courts to answer to the charges of having repeatedly injected her Cocker Spaniel with insulin in a bizarre bid to get attention. The 2-year-old dog named Florence did not have diabetes.
Bretman, 28, worked at the out-of-hours clinic Pets A&E in Glasgow, Scotland and it was her employer, veterinarian Lesley Herd, who began to suspect Bretman of harming her dog. She treated Florence for “low blood glucose on each occasion” and yet the dog was “normal between episodes”, which led her to suspect that insulin was being administered.
Adding to Herd’s suspicions was that initially Bretman did not want blood samples sent for testing. But after she agreed to it, Bretman took the blood samples herself, however, those samples never arrived at the testing facility.
Herd even correctly predicted that Florence would be rushed in for treatment a few hours after she gave Bretman the night off. She told the court, “I had said to my partner she [Bretman] will find an excuse to come in to the clinic because she’s not happy about having the night off and I said ‘I bet Flo collapses tonight’, and it did happen.”
According to the Mirror UK, Herd notified the Scottish SPCA and an investigation was launched and charges were later laid against Bretman. Florence was taken out of Bretman’s care as soon as the investigation was concluded and has been healthy ever since.
While no explanation was given as to why Bretman harmed Florence, the court heard she was “an attention seeker”. Bretman has been found guilty of causing Florence unnecessary suffering and will be sentenced next month. It’s believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in Britain. The charge carries a maximum penalty of a £20,000 fine (approx $25,000 USD) or a year in jail.
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