Melbourne vet Dr Chris Preston’s long list of botched surgeries revealed

He describes himself as the Charlie Teo of the pet world, but the state watchdog has been inundated with complaints about this ‘monster’ vet’s horrific practices.

Melbourne vet Dr Chris Preston has had his registration cancelled by the state’s watchdog for a series of botched surgeries. Picture: Evan Morgan

Depending on who you ask, veterinary surgeon Dr Chris Preston is either the miracle worker or a “monster” who should never be let near a pet, or a scalpel again.

Dr Preston earlier this year had his registration cancelled by the state’s veterinary watchdog, following an extraordinary hearing into botched surgeries on two loved family pets, greyhound Tonto, and rottweiler Onyx.

But the Herald Sun can reveal the Veterinary Practitioners Board has since been “inundated” with complaints about the sidelined vet, who already had a “long” disciplinary history.

Dr Preston – who describes himself as the “Charlie Teo of the vet world” – had a busy, lucrative practice in Malvern East, where he had a reputation for taking on complex cases that other vets would shy away from.

Dr Preston, who has lodged an appeal, claims he has been hounded by a disgruntled former employee, regulatory investigators, and a handful of former clients.

“I have lost my income, my livelihood, my reputation and my business, there’s nothing left to lose,” he told the Herald Sun.

He is fighting to keep his registration and plans to one day re-register as a vet, but aggrieved former clients continue to come forward saying they fear the prospect of him being allowed to pick up a scalpel ever again.

Cookie the Shih tzu’s brain tumour

When Dean Hurlston and his partner, Joseph Gianfriddo, returned home from an overseas trip, something seemed “off” with their Shih tzu, Cookie.

She was drooling, walking strangely and ultimately had a seizure.

It was a Sunday, so Mr Hurlston and Mr Gianfriddo had no choice but to go to the emergency veterinary hospital in Dandenong.

“Cookie was a six-year-old Shih tzu full of life and with a cheeky and fun personality, she was to us, a part of our family,” Mr Hurlston said.

Dr Preston broke the news of the tumour to the devastated couple, whose thoughts immediately turned to Cookie being euthanized.

“In the midst of what appeared to be a death sentence, he said that dogs were ‘very resilient’ and that ‘if anyone could save her, he could’,” Mr Hurlston said.

“He was so sure and confident, we believed him.”

At that moment we didn’t know what to do, but we wanted to give Cookie a chance.”

Dr Preston denies parts of Mr Hurlston’s account, and told the Herald Sun: “No client is told that the procedure is easy, trivial or without major potential risks”.

Cookie’s surgery went poorly.

Mr Hurlston said she “looked like a zombie” afterwards.

“We will never forget how confronting that was,” he said.

She spent weeks in intensive care, and weeks more under the constant watch of Mr Hurlston and Mr Gianfriddo.

Dean Hurlston and Joseph Gianfriddo's Shih tzu, Cookie, never properly recovered.

Cookie was ‘like a zombie’ after the surgery.

Cookie went through months of “excruciating” and slow rehabilitation, eventually recognising her loving owners again.

“We persisted, until one day — out of nowhere, almost three-months post-surgery — she had another seizure and it was bad,” Mr Hurlston said.

“She seemed very distressed and so were we. We knew what it meant.”

Dr Preston said it was “disappointing” Cookie started having seizures after the operation and said one option could have been to put her on anti-seizure medications.

Mr Hurlston said he felt “taken for a ride” by Dr Preston, and that the risks of the $15,000 surgery were not properly explained.

Dr Preston said the cost of the surgery was in line with what any veterinary surgeon would have charged.

“We were also very angry,” Mr Hurlston said.

“Angry that we had been misled and angry that we had put our dog, Cookie, through the hell that she had endured. It felt like we had now become her abusers, and that made us feel very sick.”

Unlike doctors, nurses, teachers and lawyers, veterinary misconduct proceedings take place in almost total secrecy and rarely become public.

Mr Hurlston said the government should do more to let owners know if vets have been found guilty of misconduct.

“We see reports of him wanting to get his licence back and continue,” Mr Hurlston said.

“We probably will never trust another vet, he has shattered this for us.”

Bille the border collie’s ‘botched’ wrist operation

Carol Jones was told Dr Preston was “the best” vet to operate on the wrist of her four-year-old Border Collie, Bille.

She now describes the final months of Bille’s life as a “nightmare”.

After the first operation, Bille developed a “raging temperature” and an antibiotic resistant infection.

“From there the nightmare began,” she said.

Dr Preston has previously, in a separate case, been found by a Vet Board expert to have failed to properly prevent an infection and to have failed to control it once it set in.

Dr Preston said the risk of infection in Bille’s case was higher because of the type of surgery he performed — not how it was performed.

Bille the Border Collie had to be put down after a number of failed operations.

The infection prolonged Bille’s recovery, and her other wrist developed issues from overuse.

Dr Preston then recommended the same procedure to fix Bille’s previously “good” wrist.

Ms Jones agreed, but the screws Dr Preston drilled into Bille’s wrist in the second operation snapped.

Ms Jones said: “We put all our trust in him … we aren’t the professional(s), he was. We believed she was in the best hands.”

She said Dr Preston “thinks he is God”, a claim he denies.

Dr Preston also said Ms Jones and her partner were “thankful” for his work at the time, and that they “requested we continue to care for Bille”.

Eventually, with the infection from the first operation spreading, Bille’s back legs also gave out.

“Our baby was suffering and so were we,” Ms Jones said.

“She couldn’t stand and could barely walk, we carried her in and out to do her ‘business’ and we resorted to a cart so she could still go on walks.”

Ms Jones said it is “heartbreaking” to learn from Herald Sun reports that Bille was not the only dog to suffer after going under the knife with Dr Preston.

“Nothing will ever bring our baby back but it’s heartbreaking that other families have experienced this through his hands,” she said.

Dr Preston said: “I believe clients often blame vets when outcomes are poor, but vets are trying their best to treat animals under their care.”

Willow the chihuahua’s failed throat surgery

Bridget Senior still regrets driving her Chihuahua, Willow, from Mallacoota to Melbourne for a routine “tie back” operation instead of going to another veterinary surgeon in Canberra.

Willow had long had issues breathing, but the smoky air during the Black Summer fires made her issues worse.

“I adored her and she adored me,” Ms Senior told the Herald Sun.

“I don’t have a family and she was it.”

Willow’s airway collapsed and her lips went blue when, under light anaesthesia, Dr Preston looked down her through to confirm another vet’s diagnosis.

Dr Preston’s account of the surgery is that “we explained to the owner that (Willow’s) condition was severe and that her best chance was to surgically open her upper airway.”

Ms Senior, in her 70s, said she was deeply upset when told of the more drastic surgery needed

to save Willow.

She told the Herald Sun Dr Preston was rude in response.

Willow the Chihuahua died after a routine operation to treat breathing issues.

“He said if I kept backchatting him he would put the price up,” Ms Senior said.

Dr Preston denies Ms Senior’s claim and says he gave her a discount on his usual fees.

In any case, Dr Preston’s attempts to save Willow failed.

She developed fluid in the lungs and died after surgery.

Ms Senior feared Willow “went through great pain” and said Dr Preston “should never, ever touch any more pets ever again”.

Dr Preston said: “Surgery, as in human medicine, carries risks of infection and other complications”.

Ms Senior contacted the Vet Board soon after reading about Dr Preston’s misconduct case.

“They were inundated with calls about him and they said it had never happened before,” she said.

The Vet Board cannot release information about complaints or ongoing investigations.

Ollie and the experimental hip replacements

Amber Wood’s puppy Ollie was just six months old when it became clear he had hip issues.

One of Dr Preston’s main areas of expertise is veterinary joint replacements, and he told Ms Wood Ollie would need both hips done, at a cost of more than $20,000.

Ms Wood couldn’t afford it, and says he offered a cut-price operation if she agreed for Ollie to have experimental, 3D printed hips he was developing with a friend.

Ms Wood says Dr Preston offered to guarantee the joint for life, and to fix anything for free if the operation did not go to plan, while Dr Preston says he only offered to cover the cost of a replacement implant if there were problems with the experimental part.

Ms Wood said the operation did not go to plan, that Ollie “looked like he had been hit by a car” afterwards.

Ollie was just six-months old when Dr Preston suggested he needed both hips replaced at a cost of $20,000.

She said Dr Preston billed her more than $6400 for the second hip operation, on top of the $7481 he charged for the first operation.

Then the first hip dislocated, and Dr Preston quoted a further $4400 to fix it.

Dr Preston said Ms Wood “did not elect to have this (third operation) performed” but Ms Wood said Ollie “was absolutely petrified of even going in (the clinic)” for a checkup appointment.

She said: “Chris had to come outside to see him, he was that petrified”.

Months of rehabilitation followed under a different vet, but Ollie’s health declined rapidly when his body began to reject the experimental hips.

Ms Wood was told the only way he would live was if he had both back legs amputated.

“We couldn’t put him through this and had him put down in April this year,” she said.

“Chris should not be doing any treatment on animals ever again.”

Will Dr Preston return to work?

Dr Preston faces an uphill battle to get his registration back.

The Vet Board revoked his registration, it said there was “no clear path back” to work given his serious failures in the treatment of Onyx and Tonto.

Dr Preston told the Herald Sun, the total revocation of this registration was harsh and that he had helped thousands of animals.

It is understood he plans to mount a similar argument at his VCAT appeal hearing in 2023.

“Over two decades I have performed approximately three surgical procedures a day, five days a week … I believe the overall complication rate … lies within an acceptable bracket when statistically measured,” he said.

Dr Preston’s VCAT appeal is set for hearing next year.

If he wins, it is understood he is likely to face further disciplinary investigations.