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Veterinarian's past catches up with him
By TAMARA LUSH © St. Petersburg Times, published April 26, 2001 A veterinarian wanted on 2-year-old drug charges in Pasco and Hernando counties was arrested in Illinois on Tuesday, after authorities were tipped to his whereabouts when he submitted paperwork to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Kent Davis, an assistant clinical professor at the University of Illinois-Urbana, was wanted in Florida for prescribing 1,620 painkilling pills to his dogs over 21/2 months in 1999. But authorities said the dogs didn't take the pills and didn't even need them. The pills were really for Davis, said Sgt. Ken Gregory of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. In March 1999, a Hernando County pharmacist told deputies about Davis' prescription-writing habits. Investigators discovered that Davis had written 27 prescriptions for hydrocodone, a powerful narcotic, at pharmacies around Hernando and Pasco counties. They were concerned that Davis was abusing his two dogs by feeding them pills. Deputies searched Davis' Spring Hill home in Pasco County in April 1999. Davis was not home when the search warrant was executed, but his wife was, Gregory said. As the deputies carted out pills, records and the doctor's two dogs from the home, Davis called his wife -- from a drug rehabilitation clinic, Gregory said. Davis, 52, talked with detectives and agreed to turn himself in after his treatment, Gregory said. But Davis never showed up, and warrants were issued. In December 1999, Davis was hired by the University of Illinois' veterinary school. He taught first-year veterinary students in a small-animal clinic and was quoted in several university articles about pet safety and well-being. Davis was in a "security sensitive" area, which meant that he could prescribe drugs for animals, according to university spokesman Bill Murphy. Under university policy, veterinarians cannot prescribe drugs for their own animals. Murphy said Davis' prescription-writing history contained no problems. This month, Davis filled out some requisite paperwork for the DEA, said Sgt. Gregory. A DEA agent in Chicago noticed that Davis had outstanding warrants and notified Florida authorities. "He eventually would have gotten caught," Gregory said. "He just picked a high-profile job that put him under scrutiny." Davis eventually will be extradited to Florida and will face charges of dealing in hydrocodone and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, Gregory said. On Wednesday, however, he was released from the Champaign County Jail on $15,000 bail. -- Tamara Lush is the police reporter in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245 or at (800) 333-7505, ext. 6245.
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