Veterinarian agrees to quit practice after regulator rules on latest complaints

A veterinarian who has an extensive history of being disciplined by the provincial regulator will stop practising next year.

Dr. Wenchao Zheng has agreed to retire on June 30 after he pleaded guilty to professional misconduct in front of the profession’s regulatory body earlier this year.

The peer review complaints committee of the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association held a hearing into four recent complaints against Zheng in July. Two were filed by members of the public in 2023, while the other two were referred to the committee by the regulator’s registrar in 2024.

In an order issued in September, the association banned Zheng from doing orthopedic surgeries.

The regulator said his ability to properly conduct surgeries was inadequate, despite agreements he had made with the association, including to finish continuing education.

“There appear to be severe deficiencies in his knowledge of current anesthesia recommendations, particularly the use of multimodal analgesia and effective routes of parenteral fluid administration, all of which are critical to safely and ethically provide surgical services of any kind, not just orthopedics, to the public,” the regulator wrote in its Sept. 4 decision.

Zheng could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. His lawyers did not return a request for comment.

One of the two recent public complainants, Noelle McIvor, is pleased Zheng will no longer practice veterinary medicine — but wishes the regulator had moved faster.

“I’m happy with the decision, (but) I would have liked it to have been immediate,” said McIvor. “How many other animals have endured something unnecessary since then, since the (association) was taking so long to make a decision?”

She said emergency meetings to address the complaints should have been held.

“But ultimately, he’s going to be done next year — that’s great,” said McIvor.

McIvor had worked at Zheng’s clinic, the Animal Hospital of Manitoba, at 995 Main St., when she took in her cat, Shadow, in August 2023, after she noticed he wasn’t walking properly.

Zheng said the cat had issues with his right hip and knee and performed surgery in August 2023, said McIvor.

Weeks later, Shadow was still lame. McIvor took her pet to another veterinarian.

Shadow’s right leg had to be amputated months later, because Zheng had botched the operation, said McIvor.

She said the other veterinarian told her the surgery shouldn’t have been performed.

McIvor filed a complaint with the association on the same day of the amputation.

Shadow has recovered well, said McIvor.

The regulator also ordered Zheng to post a notice at his clinic and on his business’s website indicating he does not conduct orthopedic surgeries, which treat issues with bones, joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments.

In its recent decision, the regulator ordered Zheng to finish continuing education by the end of October and told him to pay $15,000 for the cost of the investigation and hearing. Zheng had to renew an agreement to have his practice supervised until he retires.

He has been sanctioned by the regulator 11 times in the past two-and-a-half decades.

Zheng founded the Animal Hospital of Manitoba in 1996.

In its recent decision, the association said Zheng has “an extensive disciplinary history” and “shows an ongoing disregard” for its ability to impose sanctions on its members, bringing the profession into disrepute.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca