By Jean-Marc Aubert
Published on
updated on 9 June 23 at 19:24
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We’re talking about the Montpellier Metropolis SPA, which hit the headlines last year with the then president dismissed and another member elected to replace her.
In an eight-page decision handed down on May 11, after a two-month deliberation (the hearing took place on March 24 in Toulouse), the Disciplinary Chamber of the Council of the Regional Order of Veterinarians of Occitanie temporarily suspends the Montpellier veterinarian Vincent Cerclet from the right to practice the profession for a period of twelve months, including eleven months of partial suspension. Honorary President of the SPA of the Métropole de Montpellier, he works as a veterinarian in the structure – including the head office, the kennels and the animal pound – based at a place called Le Carré du Roi, on the road to Fabrègues, in Villeneuve-les-Maguelone.
2021 Detailed Complaint
The disciplinary procedure involved seven alleged facts. If Vincent Cerclet is released on four points listed in the prosecution, on the other hand, he is found guilty for the other three. This disciplinary procedure was initiated followinga detailed complaint, filed on September 27, 2021 after the Council of the Regional Order, evoking, supporting documents, a series of alleged contentious practices, in particular the malfunction of veterinary pharmacy of the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole SPA.
It is a magistrate in function at the judicial court of Toulouse, Dominique Pettoello who chaired the debates, on March 24, surrounded by four assessors. Vincent Cerclet, responded to the summons and his lawyer was live from Lyon, via videoconference. The decision rendered on May 11 therefore covers three points: first, the honorary president of SPA 3M is accused of having exercised wholesaler-distributor activities in the absence of authorizationby providing the Montpellier SPA with around twenty freelance veterinarians, a stock of veterinary medicines stored in cupboards located on the premises of the SPA association.
Stored drugs
Next, he is accused of having stored veterinary drugs, in particular antibioticsvaccinators, anesthetics And euthanasia in cupboards and in a safe left available to veterinarians, but also available to SPA employees on the premises, some in conditions not in accordance with the specifications from a professional veterinarian’s home in contravention of the legislation on veterinary pharmacy.
Finally, he is criticized for having held a pharmacy open in the premises of the SPA 3M by delivering drugs to non-veterinarian employees of this association without a clinical examination, without prior diagnosis and without a valid prescription from a veterinarian. So many presumed facts that he never ceases to deny.
“Common Practices”
When the affair broke out, an investigation and checks by the departmental directorate for the protection of populations -DDPP 34- of the Hérault prefecture, then a audit, had brought to light dysfunctions, all fiercely contested by the honorary president of the SPA. Vincent Cerclet has always maintained that these were common practices everywhere in France and which therefore had no no illegality to his eyes. It is in particular the defense system that he used before the disciplinary chamber in Toulouse.
“Why has the SPA of the Métropole de Montpellier never hired a specific veterinarian, other than a manager of the association, as is the case in all large structures? ask former volunteer members of SPA 3M, very involved in the past and some of whom have been brutally dismissed. They observe that, “It is Vincent Cerclet who exclusively provides all the stocks of medicines, whose position is the most important in the shelter, with tens of thousands of euros spent to buy dewormersanti-fleas, anti-inflammatories, anti-cough (against kennel cough), tear serum, anti-diarrheals, etc. Purchases are made from well-established laboratories, without passing through an approved pharmacist”.
Criminal complaint
A criminal complaint was filed with the public prosecutor of Montpellier by Alain Scheuer, the lawyer for the president of SPA 3M at the time, listing in particular these alleged facts retained by the disciplinary chamber of the Order of Veterinarians of Occitanie . This complaint was filed away.
Appeal of decision
Requested this Friday evening by Metropolitan, Vincent Cerclet indicates that he is appealing this disciplinary decision: “I have two months to appeal”. As for the president of the time in turmoil, she made it known that she did not want to hear any more about this affair.
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