College Park Animal Hospital

I have used their services for more than 10 years and I am very happy with all their services. They saved by dog Negrita. I am very grateful and happy I went to College Park Animal Hospital!

We have been taking our pets to College Park Animal Hospital for over 15 years. They have been absolutely wonderful! They are extremely knowledgeable as well as compassionate to the pets. I have been completely satisfied and will continue to strongly recommend this animal hospital to anyone who loves their pets and wants the best possible care!

College Park Animal Hospital (CPAH) is an old institution in College Park. Many people have brought their pets there and have been satisfied with the service received. I have also been a satisfied client for over two years. However in early 2008 my old cat, Smokey, became very ill. I took him to CPAH three times and twice to the ER. CPAH missed a serious and potentially life threatening heart condition in Smokey, even though it was obvious on the X-ray taken by one of its vets (recognized immediately on the same X-ray by the emergency vet and later by a Tufts vet). As a result, Smokey deteriorated quickly without any medication for over two weeks. Alarmed by Smokey's symptoms, I began doing reading on the Internet, which led me to believe that Smokey might have a serious heart disease and should be treated urgently. I called CPAH, and one of the vets there agreed to put Smokey on rescue medication and refer him to a cardiologist. The medication started helping Smokey right away. The question is: why was I the one who had to determine that Smokey needed this medication, and not the vet? The heart condition could have been probably treated more successfully if given when it was first obvious on the X-ray. Smokey died on January 29th at the ER after a sedative was administered to him.



One of the veterinarians treating Smokey at CPAH admitted missing the condition, but the other one and the owner of the hospital refuse to acknowledge that mistakes were made. To add insult to injury, Dr. McMichael, the owner and head vet at CPAH, became defensive and vindictive against me and my family. He stated that Smokey's heart diseases, congestive heart failure (CHF), was not detected on the X-ray taken at CPAH because CHF cannot be seen on an X-ray. This is incorrect: X-ray is one of the main tools in diagnosing CHF, and any basic medical and veterinary text will say so. When I confronted Dr. McMichael, he began stonewalling. He refused to release Smokey's records and X-rays to me when I showed up to pick them up on a date agreed upon between me and his staff. He also stopped allowing me and my whole family (including my son's girlfriend) to come onto the premises in order to volunteer with rescued dogs cared for at CPAH, leaving these dogs without the walks and socialization that the four of us had been providing to them prior to the incident.



This is a very sad experience because we trusted the veterinarians at CPAH to keep our pet safe. We also trusted them to have the best interest of homeless animals at heart, as they claim to be "rescue friendly." We trusted them to have the personal and professional integrity to own up to their mistakes, should they happen. Our trust has been irrevocably betrayed.