Fort Worth Woman Claims Fake Veterinarian Stole Her Purse

Dog owner says man posed as vet, stole her wallet

A Fort Worth woman says the man she hired to remove her dog's ingrown nails wasn't really a veterinarian and stole her purse.

Gay Penny recently needed an animal doctor because her 3-year-old Dachshund-Chihuahua mix, Flo Jo, developed a problem with two of her nails.

"She couldn't walk right, you know?" Penny said. "She'd step, because they (the nails) would go right into her little pad."

Penny said she met Jeremy Bradbury through a neighbor.

"He even introduced himself to me, 'I'm Jeremy; I'm a vet,'" she said. "He had on scrubs. He had a little bag that he carried. He had blood pressure cuffs."

Penny paid him $60 to remove Flo Jo's nails. He kept the dog overnight and performed the procedure, she said.

It wasn't until he returned to her home for a followup visit that she realized there was a problem.

"Well, he stole my wallet," she said.

She reported the theft to police, and that's when she learned Bradbury was no vet.

"I feel terrible," she said as Flo Jo sat on the couch next to her. "She was a victim. Not only was I a victim, but she was a victim."

Police arrested Bradbury, 36, on charges of theft and acting as a vet without a license.

In a short interview outside his home in North Fort Worth, Bradbury denied ever claiming to be a vet. He said he is an animal trainer and likes to help people with their pets. He also denied stealing Penny's purse.

Penny said what happened to her should serve as a lesson for other pet owners.

"What if you took your child to the doctor and the doctor supposedly did surgery on your child and then you find out he's not a doctor?" she said. "Be sure to ask for some kind of identification. Make sure before you let someone take your babies and do something with them that they're who they say they are."

Penny did take Flo Jo to a real veterinarian who said the dog seems to be doing fine.

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