1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF CLINTON COUNTY 1 STATE OF MISSOURI 2 3 MISSOURI VETERINARY MEDICAL ) 4 BOARD, ) 5 ) 6 Plaintiff, ) 7 ) 8 vs. ) Case No. 10CN-CV00842 9 ) 10 BROOKE RENE GRAY and ) 11 B & B EQUINE DENTISTRY ) 12 ) 13 Defendants. ) 14 15 16 DEPOSITION OF DANA FENNEWALD 17 Taken on behalf of Defendant 18 September 7, 2011 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
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Deposition of Dana Fennewald, Executive Director of Missouri Veterinary Medical Board
Dana Fennewald, who has been the Executive Director of the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board for sixteen years, offered this testimony under oath. The Executive Director specifically says that it could be illegal for non-veterinarians to castrate others' animals (p. 68), to brand others' animals (p. 69), to tail-dock others' animals (p. 69-70); to trim the hooves of others' animals (p. 70); to shoe others' horses (p. 70); to trim the nails of others' animals (p. 70); or to cut the hair or fur of others' animals (p. 71).
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Transcript
1
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF CLINTON COUNTY 1
STATE OF MISSOURI 2
3
MISSOURI VETERINARY MEDICAL ) 4
BOARD, ) 5
) 6
Plaintiff, ) 7
) 8
vs. ) Case No. 10CN-CV00842 9
) 10
BROOKE RENE GRAY and ) 11
B & B EQUINE DENTISTRY ) 12
) 13
Defendants. ) 14
15
16
DEPOSITION OF DANA FENNEWALD 17
Taken on behalf of Defendant 18
September 7, 2011 19
20
21
22
23
24
25
2
I N D E X 1
EXAMINATIONS PAGE 2
Direct Examination by Mr. Roland 5 3
4
EXHIBIT INSTRUCTIONS: 5
Original exhibit is attached to original deposition. 6
7
EXHIBITS PAGE 8
Fennewald Exhibit No. 1 9
Letter 44 10
11
12
13
14
15
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18
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3
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF CLINTON COUNTY 1
STATE OF MISSOURI 2
3
MISSOURI VETERINARY MEDICAL ) 4
BOARD, ) 5
) 6
Plaintiff, ) 7
) 8
vs. ) Case No. 10CN-CV00842 9
) 10
BROOKE RENE GRAY and ) 11
B & B EQUINE DENTISTRY ) 12
) 13
Defendants. ) 14
15
DEPOSITION OF WITNESS, Dana Fennewald, 16
produced, sworn, and examined on September 7, 2011, between 17
8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. of that day at the Office of the 18
Attorney General, Broadway State Office Building, 221 West 19
High Street, Jefferson City, Missouri, before Janna L. 20
Tayon, Court Reporter, CCR No. 1260, in a certain cause now 21
pending before the Circuit Court of Clinton County, 22
Missouri, wherein Missouri Veterinary Medical Board is 23
Plaintiff and Brooke R. Gray and B & B Equine Dentistry are 24
Defendants.25
4
A P P E A R A N C E S 1
2
FOR THE PLAINTIFF: 3
MR. EDWIN R. FROWNFELTER 4
Office of the Attorney General 5
Fletcher Daniels State Office Building 6
615 East 13th Street, Suite 401 7
Kansas City, Missouri 64106 8
816.889.5019 9
10
FOR THE DEFENDANTS: 11
MR. DAVE ROLAND 12
Freedom Center of Missouri 13
5938 De Giverville Avenue 14
St. Louis, Missouri 63112 15
314.604.6621 16
17
18
19
CERTIFIED COURT REPORTER: 20
Janna L. Tayon, CCR NO. 1260 21
TIGER COURT REPORTING, LLC 22
3610 Buttonwood Drive, Suite 200 23
Columbia, Missouri 65201 24
573.886.894225
5
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by and 1
between Counsel for the Plaintiff and Counsel for the 2
Defendant that this deposition may be taken by JANNA L. 3
TAYON, a Certified Court Reporter, CCR 1260, thereafter 4
transcribed into typewriting, with the signature of the 5
witness being expressly requested. 6
DANA FENNEWALD 7
of lawful age, having been produced, sworn, and examined on 8
the part of the Defendant, testified as follows: 9
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. ROLAND: 10
Q. Could you state your name for the record, 11
please. 12
A. Dana Fennewald. 13
Q. Okay. Ms. Fennewald, my name is Dave Roland. 14
I am an attorney with the Freedom Center of Missouri, which 15
is a nonprofit law firm in St. Lewis. And I represent 16
Ms. Brooke Gray. 17
This, of course, is a deposition brought by 18
the Missouri Veterinary Medical Board against Ms. Brooke 19
Gray. And I want to say at the outset that just because, 20
you know, my client is adverse to the Board that you work 21
for, there is no reason that our interaction needs to be 22
adversarial today. I am going to do my best just to be 23
collegial and, you know, ask the questions that we have, 24
and let you give me answers that you need to give.25
6
A. Okay. 1
Q. Have you given a deposition before? 2
A. I have. One. 3
Q. One. 4
A. Uh-huh. 5
Q. Okay. So you have a little bit of an idea of 6
how it works? 7
A. A little bit. 8
Q. I'll -- I'll refresh your memory. So this is 9
an opportunity that I have, as the defendant's attorney, to 10
ask you questions about what you know about the Board of 11
Veterinary Medicine and what you know about certain aspects 12
of this case. It is my understanding that you are here as 13
a representative of the Board, and we will explore that a 14
little bit when we get into some questions. 15
But a deposition is kind of like giving 16
testimony at a trial. You are under oath, and some of the 17
answers that you give might be used at trial. One of the 18
things that will be a little bit different is, if I ask a 19
question that Mr. Frownfelter feels like he needs to object 20
to, he will have the opportunity to state his objection and 21
get it on the record. 22
And then, unless it is a very unusual 23
circumstance, you will go ahead and provide the answer. 24
A. Okay.25
7
Q. And then the Judge will determine, at a later 1
date, whether the objection is valid and whether the answer 2
should be excluded. 3
A. Okay. 4
Q. So as we go through this, I am going to ask 5
you a series of questions, and then Mr. Frownfelter will 6
have the opportunity to ask you questions. And we will 7
kind of go back and forth until we feel like we've gotten 8
all the questions out there that need to be asked. If, at 9
any point, I ask a question that you feel like is unclear, 10
or you don't understand, just let me know and I will try 11
and clarify it for you, so you can provide the best answer. 12
A. Okay. 13
Q. Let's see. One thing to remember with a 14
deposition is that the court reporter has trouble writing 15
down nonverbal responses, like nods or head shakes, and so 16
as much as possible, try and remember to respond verbally. 17
And, you know, if we miss something important, in all 18
likelihood, the court reporter will let us know. 19
A. Okay. 20
Q. And we'll be able to fix that. You have the 21
opportunity to review the deposition and sign it before it 22
is finalized. You also have the opportunity to waive that 23
review. 24
And it's really just your decision as to25
8
whether you would like to review it and sign it. Do you 1
know at this point whether you would like to do that or 2
whether you would like to waive your opportunity to review 3
it? 4
A. I would probably want to review it. 5
Q. Okay. All right. One more thing. If at any 6
point you feel like you need a break, just let me know, and 7
we ought to be able to engineer a break for you. I would 8
ask that if I've asked a question, that you finish 9
responding to that question before we go to a break. 10
A. Okay. 11
Q. Does that make sense? 12
A. Yes. 13
Q. Okay. Did you have any other questions? 14
A. I do not. 15
MR. ROLAND: Mr. Frownfelter, do you have 16
anything? 17
MR. FROWNFELTER: I'm good. 18
MR. ROLAND: Okay. 19
BY MR. ROLAND: 20
Q. Okay. Ms. Fennewald, where are you employed? 21
A. I employ -- I am employed at the Missouri 22
Veterinary Medical Board and the Board of Examiners for 23
Hearing Instrument Specialists. 24
Q. Okay. So you've got two hats you are25
9
wearing? 1
A. Yes. 2
Q. I actually -- I'm -- I didn't quite catch the 3
name of the second -- 4
A. Board of Examiners for Hearing Instrument 5
Specialists. 6
Q. Okay. Hearing. And what is your position 7
with the Veterinary Medical Board? 8
A. I'm the executive director. 9
Q. Okay. And what is your position with the 10
Board of Examiners for Hearing Instruments? 11
A. Executive director, also. 12
Q. Okay. How long have you been the executive 13
director for the Veterinary Medical Board? 14
A. Since 1995. 15
Q. Okay. As we go forward today, if I reference 16
the Board, I will be talking about the Veterinary Medical 17
Board. 18
A. Okay. 19
Q. Just so that we have that clear. So you've 20
been the executive director for 16 years? 21
A. Correct. 22
Q. Okay. And prior to that? 23
A. I worked for the Board, but in an 24
administrative capacity since 1991, while I went to25
10
college. So from '91 to '95, I worked for the Board, but 1
it was clerical. 2
Q. Okay. So how did you come to be the 3
executive director? 4
A. I was hired by the Board. 5
Q. Okay. So that's a Board decision and not a 6
gubernatorial appointment? 7
A. That is correct. 8
Q. Are you serving a set term, or is it 9
open-ended? 10
A. It is open-ended. 11
Q. Okay. Are you a veterinarian yourself? 12
A. No. 13
Q. Okay. Have you pursued any training or 14
education in dealing with animals? 15
A. No. 16
Q. Okay. Do you have any family members who are 17
veterinarians? 18
A. I do not. 19
Q. Did you grow up on a farm? 20
A. I grew up in the country. 21
Q. In the country? 22
A. But not per se a farm. We farmed, but I 23
didn't grow up on a farm. 24
Q. I see. Did you have animals on the farm?25
11
A. We had cows and pigs. 1
Q. Cows and pigs. Did you deal directly with 2
the cows and pigs when you were growing up? 3
A. I always -- you know, feeding, but that was 4
it. 5
Q. Okay. What are your responsibilities as the 6
executive director of the Veterinary Medical Board? 7
A. I am responsible for overseeing the licensing 8
and discipline of veterinarians, veterinary technicians, 9
veterinary facilities. I am also the custodian of records 10
for the Board. 11
Q. How many people are on staff full time with 12
the Board? 13
A. We have three full-time staff. 14
Q. Okay. 15
A. At the Board office. 16
Q. And as far as the day to day operations of 17
the staff, what would a typical day look like for your 18
staff? 19
A. We process applications. We receive 20
complaints. I don't know -- we get in documentation for 21
applications, like supporting documentations for 22
transcripts. We do verifications of licensures to be sent 23
to other states. Depending on the time of year, we have 24
renewals; we have to renew licenses. Preparing for25
12
meetings. 1
Q. Yeah. If you were going to estimate the 2
percentage of time that the office spends dealing with 3
license applications and renewals and things of that sort; 4
would you have a guess about what percentage of your time 5
that takes? 6
A. My time or my staff's time? 7
Q. The staff's time. 8
A. All of it? Probably staff time, I mean, we 9
probably have 75 percent of application processing. 10
Q. Okay. Of the remaining 25 percent, how much 11
of that would you say is dedicated to receiving complaints? 12
A. Maybe 10. I don't -- I mean, I don't know. 13
That is a hard estimate. 14
Q. When you receive complaints, are they more 15
typically complaints about licensed veterinarians or 16
complaints about unlicensed persons? 17
A. Typically, it's about veterinarians. 18
Q. Okay. And what sorts of complaints would 19
those be? 20
A. I don't know. There could be, you know, 21
negligence, you know, individuals just thinking that their 22
animals were not treated properly. And we get a lot of 23
complaints that animals that have passed away and, you 24
know, the client is upset, so they are trying to find out25
13
what happened. Things like that. 1
Q. Okay. As far as complaints about unlicensed 2
persons, what sort of complaints do those tend to be? 3
A. Individuals practicing without licenses. Is 4
that what you mean? 5
Q. Yes. If you were to receive a complaint 6
about an individual who is practicing without a license; 7
does it tend to be a complaint that an animal has been 8
injured? 9
A. It could be. Yes. 10
Q. Does it tend to be? Is it more likely than 11
not, that you're dealing with a situation where an animal 12
has been injured? 13
A. I mean, we receive some. But, I -- 14
typically, I couldn't answer that. That would be hard 15
to -- 16
Q. Okay. Can you estimate a percentage of the 17
complaints about nonveterinarians that deal with animal 18
injuries? 19
A. I couldn't estimate that. 20
Q. Okay. Do you have any sense about how many 21
complaints about unlicensed persons you receive in a month? 22
A. I mean, it just depends. I mean, we may go 23
several months without receiving complaints altogether. 24
Q. Uh-huh.25
14
A. And then we may get, you know, six in a 1
month. So, I mean, it's hard to estimate that. 2
Q. So if you got six of those complaints, would 3
that be a pretty heavy month, as far as -- 4
A. Yeah. It would be. 5
Q. Okay. And that's six complaints about 6
unlicensed persons, not six complaints total? 7
A. No. Six complaints total. 8
Q. Okay. How frequently would you say you have 9
a month with that many complaints out of a year? 10
A. I would say we have over six months that we 11
would get -- we get close to anywhere from 70 to a 100 12
complaints in a year. So -- 13
Q. 70 to 100 complaints total? Or -- 14
A. In a year. Yes. Total in a year. 15
Q. Okay. And do you have an estimate about how 16
many of that 70 to 100 complaints are complaints about 17
unlicensed persons? 18
A. No, I don't. We don't -- we put them all in 19
a log. We don't keep track -- I mean, I don't know how 20
many is -- off the top of my head, how many would be 21
unlicensed and not. 22
Q. Okay. Does the Board distinguish between 23
those types of complaints though? 24
A. When they put them in the log or when they25
15
review them? 1
Q. Either. 2
A. Well, they know when they review them what 3
they -- we put them in the log differently, too. And it's 4
just a different place we have to put if they're unlicensed 5
than if they're licensed. But then the Board, when they 6
see the complaint, they know that they are unlicensed 7
individuals. 8
Q. Okay. Who is responsible for sorting those 9
out or logging them? 10
A. I am. 11
Q. You are? So you're the person who's 12
reviewing each of these complaints? 13
A. I am. 14
Q. Okay. But you can't take a stab at 15
approximately how many of these complaints are unlicensed 16
persons versus licensed vets? 17
A. I wouldn't want to take an estimate -- or 18
make an estimate of that without, you know, reviewing our 19
logs. I mean, I just honestly do not know how many. 20
Q. Would you say it's less than 50 percent? 21
A. It's probably less than 50. Yes. But I 22
wouldn't know how many. 23
Q. Would you say it's one in three or fewer? 24
A. I -- I couldn't say.25
16
Q. Okay. Are any of your full-time staff 1
investigators? 2
A. No. 3
Q. Do you have any person that you typically 4
rely on to handle investigations for the Board? 5
A. We have a contract investigator that we 6
contract with. 7
Q. Okay. And what is his name? 8
A. William Burton. 9
Q. Do you remember ever contracting with anyone 10
else to conduct investigations? 11
A. Bill subcontracts with John Gordon. 12
Q. Does he let you know prior to sending 13
Mr. Gordon to assist with an investigation, or is that 14
simply at Mr. Burton's discretion? 15
A. If he doesn't let us know before, John will 16
call us before he goes out to discuss the case. 17
Q. I see. Do you know if Mr. Gordon has done 18
any of the investigating for Brooke Gray's situation? 19
A. I don't recall. I don't think he did. 20
Q. Okay. Now, just to be clear, you are not a 21
member of the Veterinary Medical Board, are you? 22
A. No. 23
Q. Okay. Do you attend their meetings? 24
A. I do.25
17
Q. Okay. Do you participate in their 1
deliberations? 2
A. I sit in on them. 3
Q. But you do not participate? 4
A. No. 5
Q. And you don't vote? 6
A. No. 7
Q. Okay. But you observe the votes? 8
A. I'm in the room when they take their votes. 9
Yes. 10
Q. I see. Who is responsible for recording the 11
events at these meetings? 12
A. We have a staff -- I take notes, and so does 13
a staff person. 14
Q. Okay. But it's not exclusively your 15
responsibility? 16
A. No. 17
Q. Okay. Aside from taking notes, do you have 18
any responsibilities regarding the Board's meetings? 19
A. Responsibilities as -- I mean, we have to set 20
them up, we make the arrangements. That's about it. 21
Taking notes. 22
Q. Okay. So you help schedule and get things 23
set up for them, and outside of that, your primary role is 24
taking notes.25
18
A. Yeah. And if they have questions regarding, 1
you know, items on the agenda that we can, you know -- give 2
them, like, applications or things like that that we may 3
have insight in, then we will provide that information to 4
them, other than the material that they have. 5
Q. Do you communicate with Board members about 6
the substance of the matters that they consider? 7
A. You mean, what they have -- I mean, they will 8
have the documents in front of them -- 9
Q. Right. 10
A. -- of what they're discussing. And if we -- 11
they have questions that we may be able to answer, then we 12
will provide them with that information. 13
Q. Okay. So not only do you provide them with 14
the packets of information, you sometimes field questions 15
about that information? 16
A. Uh-huh. Yes. 17
Q. Okay. What kinds of questions might you get 18
from a Board member? 19
A. Well, if there's an application that they 20
have questions about. If it's a, you know, a score 21
question about a test or an exam score, or verification 22
from the State, questions like that. Just, if we have 23
general correspondence, if they have questions if, you 24
know, we've received a call, or if we've talked to this25
19
person before they sent us a letter, you know, things like 1
that. 2
Q. Okay. Do Board members ever ask you to 3
conduct research for them? 4
A. There's times. Yes. 5
Q. Okay. In the context of a disciplinary 6
action, is it common for a Board member to ask you to do 7
some research for them? 8
A. A disciplinary action? 9
Q. Uh-huh. 10
A. Like, what type of research? I guess I'm not 11
understanding the question. 12
Q. Well, I don't -- I don't have a specific type 13
of research, just when the Board is considering whether to 14
discipline either a licensed vet or an unlicensed person, 15
would they ask you to gather information related to their 16
deliberations? 17
A. I guess they could. I mean, I guess there's 18
times that they would -- may ask us, but I can't really 19
remember any time that they've asked us about doing 20
research if they're going to be disciplined. 21
Q. Okay. So having the opportunity to observe 22
the Board's deliberations, do you have a sense of the type 23
of information they consider when they are evaluating one 24
of these disciplinary cases?25
20
A. We -- we provide them with that information. 1
Q. Okay. So you would be able to testify as to 2
the type of information that they consider in unlicensed 3
practice situations? 4
A. Yeah. If our office has that information 5
then, yes, we would. 6
Q. Okay. To the best of your understanding, are 7
there any limits on what you are able to testify about 8
today? 9
A. Not that I am aware of. 10
Q. Okay. In this testimony, are you empowered 11
to speak on behalf of the Board? 12
A. I can speak on behalf of the Board. 13
Q. Okay. But your testimony today would not be 14
binding on the Board? 15
A. No. 16
Q. Okay. How many Board members are there 17
currently? 18
A. Six. 19
Q. Okay. How does one become a member of the 20
Veterinary Medical Board? 21
A. They have to fill out an application with the 22
Governor's office, and they are appointed by the Governor 23
and confirmed by the Senate. 24
25
21
1
Q. Are all of the Board members veterinarians? 2
A. We have one public member. 3
Q. Okay. Are you aware if that public member 4
has any veterinarian background whatsoever? 5
A. I do not think they do. 6
Q. Okay. Are there any particular 7
qualifications one must have to become a Board member? 8
A. The requirements are set out in statute. 9
Q. Okay. And do -- do you know what those 10
requirements are, off the top of your head? 11
A. They have to be in practice for so many 12
years, and be a resident of Missouri, but other than that, 13
I am not sure of the requirements. 14
Q. Unless you are the public Board member? 15
A. Yes. Unless you are a public member. 16
Q. Okay. How long does a Board member's term 17
last? 18
A. I think it is usually four years, but that 19
they have to be either reappointed or replaced by the 20
Governor. 21
Q. Okay. Are there any committees on this 22
Board? 23
A. We do not have any committees. 24
Q. Okay. So if a question is presented about25
22
licensing or litigation, it comes before the full Board? 1
A. Yes. 2
Q. Okay. Do you know how the Board is funded? 3
A. We are fee funded. 4
Q. Okay. Does that mean that the Board is 5
funded exclusively on licensing fees? 6
A. That is correct. 7
Q. Okay. It receives no other tax support? 8
A. We receive no other general revenue. 9
Q. Okay. Do you know how many active licenses 10
the Board currently oversees? 11
A. Probably around three to four thousand, 12
counting vets, techs, and facilities. 13
Q. Okay. And do you know what the annual fee is 14
for a license? 15
A. It is 50 for an active veterinarian, 25 for 16
an inactive veterinarian, 20 for a tech, and 10 for an 17
inactive tech. 18
Q. Are there separate fees for facilities? 19
A. Facilities is a $50 -- it's either $50 or $25 20
annual fee. 21
Q. Okay. Does the Board keep track of licensed 22
veterinarians who are in large animal practice as opposed 23
to small animal practice? 24
A. We do not keep track of that. No.25
23
Q. Okay. So the Board does not keep track of 1
specialties? 2
A. No. 3
Q. Okay. Does the Board recognize any special 4
certifications or qualifications? 5
A. No. 6
Q. Is it correct that one of the Board's 7
responsibilities is to enforce Chapter 340? 8
A. That is correct. 9
Q. Okay. And 340 is the chapter that deals with 10
licensed vets; is that correct? 11
A. Yes. 12
Q. Okay. Are you familiar with that statute? 13
A. I am. 14
Q. If a member of the public has a question 15
about this statute, do you have any sense of who they would 16
call to have that question answered? 17
A. They would call our office. 18
Q. Okay. Would your office be able to answer 19
questions about Chapter 340? 20
A. On most cases, the Board office is able to 21
handle all calls. There is times some questions come in 22
that we have to refer them to the Board. 23
Q. Okay. What sorts of questions would those be 24
that you would have to refer to the Board?25
24
A. I can't think of any right off the top of my 1
head. I can't think of any. 2
Q. Do the three people who work under you tend 3
to field most of the calls, or do you field calls with some 4
regularity? 5
A. It depends. Most of the time the staff 6
fields them. 7
Q. Okay. 8
A. But I do take calls also. 9
Q. Okay. Of the calls that you yourself have 10
fielded, have you ever gotten questions about certain 11
actions and whether they would be legal under Chapter 340? 12
A. Yes. 13
Q. What types of questions would you get in that 14