Dr Joel Joseph, DVM (now owner of Wise Owl Animal Hospital in Tamuning, Guam), with Dr RW, DVM, assisting, perform an excision of hygromas on the elbows of a male lion at the Southern Comfort Ranch in Merizo, Guam. The Ranch operated as a zoo until it was closed in 2006. The owners, Barry Cox and Leslee Houston, were convicted of wire fraud and violating the Lacey Act. See http://mvguam.com/local/news/6972-zoo-owners-face-jail-term-.html Note how wide Dr Joseph's incision on the right elbow is. When the elbow is flexed there's a lot of tension on the skin at the tip of the elbow. Closing this wound was doomed from the moment of the initial incision. His incompetent technique left too little viable skin to close the surgical wound (comment in the video at the 21:00 mark: "It seemed like we had plenty of tissue and now we don't"). Also note lack of head, beard, and mouth covering. Dr RW began his incision at the apex of the hygroma, drained and removed the fluid sac, then trimmed the excess skin to effect a closure with no tension on the suture line. 4:47 Dr Joel Joseph starts circumferential incision around the hygroma on the right elbow. This is NOT how the procedure is generally done. 14:48 Drains fluid from false bursa 19:12 Joint is elevated showing the full extent of the wound 21:00 Dr Joel Joseph: "It seemed like we had plenty of tissue and now we don't." 24:43 Dr RW: "Had to do a skin flap graft, a little short on tissue there, flapped over the elbow." 25:22 Dr RW starts on the left elbow. Rather than a circumferential incision, he works from the peak of the hygroma and undermines the tissue. Excess skin can be removed once the hygroma is excised to leave a tension free closure. 27:10 Drains fluid from false bursa 30:47 Note how much excess skin is visible 47:40 Dr Joseph starts playing with patient's tongue Closing the right elbow required a skin graft from the pouch of excised tissue. There's no guarantee that this skin will be able to recruit blood vessels quickly enough to avoid dying. The left elbow was done by the book. It turned out not to matter. Soon after the lion recovered he flexed his right elbow and ruptured the sutures. The wound became septic and the lion died a few days later. As poorly as the surgery was done by Dr Joseph, what makes it worse is that it was both dangerous and unnecessary. Serving as a wildlife veterinarian in a zoo facility requires more that just a clinic. The position requires knowledge of the diseases and syndromes affecting the animals housed there. It's been known since at least 1995 that nearly 100% of hygromas on lion elbows are caused by Mycobacterium bovis (http://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/general/mbovis.htm), the tuberculois of cattle. Transmission to humans is rare, however the manner of this surgery - cutting into infected tissue, draining and splashing fluid in the operating theater - is about as favorable as it gets. By performing this surgery he put everyone participating in that surgery suite at risk of contracting bovine tuberculosis. Not knowing the risk is incompetence, knowing the risk and proceeding anyway is gross negligence. Multiple Guam Board of Allied Health Examiners (GBAHE) hearings have documented repeated and egregious instances of incompetence and negligence on the part of Dr Joel Joseph (fka Joel Schiff), now owner of Wise Owl Animal Care. See http://www.guampdn.com/assets/pdf/M0190714615.PDF for just one example. Barry Cox would later (2 August 2006) file a multiple count complaint about Dr Joel Joseph with the Attorney General. Among the many other charges he wrote: "Through his incompetence at our Zoo facility, he is directly responsible for the deaths of over 11 animals. Through his mis-diagnosis, administration of improper drugs incompatible with exotics, and improper surgery techniques. He directly caused the death of one male African Lion demanding a needless surgery, and video-taped this surgery proving his own incompetence. He then filed a report stating that the veterinarian from the Air Force Base caused this animal's demise. Dr. Schiff left the animal under full anethesia, unattended, and left the property allowing this animal to die without monitoring his recovery from extensive surgery."

• published: 10 Dec 2014
• views: 1321