Sherry Kwartler Darcy said her 11-year-old cat Robert died in 2024 after a botched blood transfusion at the Leader Animal Specialty Hospital.

Kwartler Darcy said she was forced to allow Robert to be euthanized. She said she recently found new evidence of malpractice.

“I can’t even believe this is happening right before my statute of limitations is running out,” Kwartler Darcy said. “I have proof!”

Kwartler Darcy requested Robert’s records from the Leader Animal Specialty Hospital.

“It actually said on the form that they were in no way responsible for anything that happened to Robert,” Kwartler Darcy said. “I couldn’t believe it. That was when I decided, ‘Now you have a war.’”

Kwartler Darcy hired Lisa Washington, a claims consultant, to expedite a financial settlement.

“You don’t expect to get it in black and white like that,” Washington said about the evidence. “You just don’t expect it.”

Washington said records show the vet tech was panicking, and she stopped the transfusion because Robert was getting dog blood.

Shortly before 11:30 p.m. on April 16, 2024, the hospital contacted a veterinarian to report that Robert had received a dog blood transfusion, according to the record shared with Local 10 News.

Washington said she sent a demand letter on Jan. 15.

“Those are medical records, and may I add, they were the portion of the medical records that were not sent when she initially asked for her medical records two years ago, so let’s make that clear,” Washington said. “And, it’s illegal to not divulge all medical records.”

Robert had cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. The Leader Animal Specialty Hospital released a statement: “His condition was the result of an end-stage terminal illness and infection and ... no treatment would have changed the outcome.”

The hospital claimed that a representative of the hospital was in touch with Kwartler-Darcy’s attorney, but she hasn’t hired an attorney.

Kwartler-Darcy and John Darcy said they want to raise awareness.

“Rather than even get money, it’s more important that I expose this because I have been haunted,” Kwartler-Darcy said. “Feeling like it’s my fault that I brought Robert there and this happened to him, because I was just trying to continue to save him, and I know that if he got the right blood, we would have had more time with him.”

South Florida cat owner claims records show evidence of vet hospital’s malpractice

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Jacey Birch