Koerber has filed a civil suit at Santa Fe Magistrate Court against Brian Bowker of the Edgewood Animal Clinic. She is asking for $10,000 in damages for $6,000 in medical costs and for pain and suffering.

Koerber's dog, a Rottweiler named Link, was treated at the clinic for an obstruction in his stomach a few months ago. Problems arose and Koerber took the dog to a Veterinary Care Animal Hospital (VCA) in Albuquerque. The dog's health declined and he was ultimately put down.

A thoracic radiograph at VCA revealed that the dog's right lung had massive pulmonary infiltrates, likely the dog's own vomit, and the left lung showed evidence of infiltrates as well, according to a report from the VCA.

"They said it looked like battery acid on his lungs," Koerber said. "This should not have happened to my dog."

She said she believes Bowker is guilty of animal cruelty, and that the dog died because Bowker didn't intubate the animal during treatment. She claims that Bowker offered to pay a portion of her veterinary bills through his insurance, and that the money would have come with a nondisclosure agreement.

Instead, Koerber went another route. Along with the civil suit, Bowker is also asking the Santa Fe County District Attorney's Office to look into the matter. It should be noted that it is yet to be decided whether Bowker actually did anything wrong. Koerber claims that Bowker admitted to having made a mistake.

When contacted by the Telegraph, Bowker gave no comment other than to say that he feels sorry for Koerber. And officials from the DA's office said they had not yet decided what to do with the matter when they were contacted on Tuesday.

Bowker and his clinic have a long history in the area. His clinic is also on the list for complementary exams for adoptable pets from the town of Edgewood, according to Animal Control officer Vicki Murphy.

Koerber said she has also submitted a complaint with the New Mexico Board of Veterinary Medicine.

Frances Sowers, the board's executive director, said complaints are investigated and reviewed by doctors of veterinary medicine and are decided on a case by case basis, but that there are no board-approved policies and procedures on this matter.

"There are accepted practices, certainly," she said.

While she didn't speak about any specific cases, she added that it is up to the review board to determine whether those practices were followed or not.

Koerber is asking that anyone else who has had problems contact her through e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .