Dr Jonathan Bach

» posted on: 12/09/2008

Dr. Jonathan Bach of Marlboro Village Veterinary Clinic was a very unsatisfactory vet for our 14 year old dog. In March 2008, we brought our dog for an exam and were told by Dr. Bach that he was in reasonable health for his age, showing signs of geriatric conditions, but that his diet was excellent. Our dog was incontinent, but still able to enjoy his meals, bark at squirrels, and had a good quality of life for his age. However, in June, our dog died, peacefully and at home under a shade tree in our yard. Ironically, we had made an appointment with Dr. Jonathan Bach to have him put down, as he had stopped eating and drinking the night before and we sensed this was the end - but he passed quickly and never made it to the appointment. Unfortunately, our dog laid outside almost 10 hours in the summer heat after he passed, until finally Dr. Jonathan Bach finally agreed to come for him - after initially telling me he would not do that, and my arranging with the local SPCA to come for our dogs remains. Since the SPCA did not come, I accepted Dr. Bach coming for our pet. What followed then became a nightmare. Dr. Jonathan Bach was contacted by local SPCA to follow up on what transpired, since they originally had been involved in the arrangements to pick up our dog. Seems there is no question when you choose to euthanize a pet, but giving hospice care to a geriatric dog and allowing him to die at home with his family, is found to be questionable by some authorities. Instead of reviewing his records, and stating the geriatric condition of our dog as the probable cause of death, Dr. Bach chose to write a damning letter, stating that among other things, the dehydrated and maggot infested condition he found the dog concluded that there had been animal abuse, that our dog had been outside to die in the heat and died from lack of food, water and sustenance - not at all noting that our dog had lain outside 10 hours in high heat before he observed this condition. We were confounded to find ourselves accused and on trial for the death of our dog, and completely shocked at the behavior of Dr. Jonathan Bach, until we researched the Dr. Jonathan Bach and found that he had recently been charged by the NJ State animal authorities and fined $6000 for poor animal care - including poor record keeping, faulty medications dispensing, and more. IN addition, Dr. Bach is the vet of record for Pet Paradise, a pet store in Marlboro NJ that, as of 2006, had more registered complaints against it than any other in the entire state of NJ. Was Dr. Jonathan Bach was more concerned about his staying out of any further trouble with state authorities than telling the truth? We are actually on trial now for giving our pet home care and the option to live his life out at home. On the stand, staff at the offices of Dr. Jonathan Bach, particularly Karin Sharenow, have stated many lies including that we told her directly that we left our dog outside in the heat because he was too incontinent to live at home. This was not only never said, but completely untrue; our dog had a special room in our home where he slept and spent the last months of his life, well cared for and loved till the end. Other lies stated on the stand include our "being too cheap to euthanize our pet," even though we had already made an appointment at Village Veterninary Clinic of Dr. Jonathan Bach for this purpose. Due to his past record of fines and questionable animal care, coupled with his incompetent staff and complete disregard for his clients - the pet owners - I would stay away from Dr. Jonathan Bach and his Village Veterinary Clinic on Main Street in Marlboro. He was not our only vet in the care of our dogs - he was simply a back-up for our geriatric dog who could not endure long car rides, because his office is 3 minutes from our home. Had I known then what I know now about Dr. Jonathan Bach, I would have tried to find a vet who could make home visits, rather than this vet who has caused so much anguish in our home.