Veterinary Council of NZ to Disclose Names: Don’t Get Excited. It’s Not What It Sounds Like.
Jordan Kelly • 19 May 2026

And So the Game Goes On . . .

Above:  To the courageous anonymous insider (made obvious by your other inclusions) who again emailed me with your now-regular jeering missive yesterday . . . this time to to tell me that my "articles are getting repetitive" : I've repeated the publication of the above photograph of Harry at Massey especially for you. To remind you of your handiwork.


This morning Liam Shields (Deputy Registrar i.e. CEO still thinks Harry's case is beneath him) wrote saying the Veterinary Council of New Zealand (VCNZ) intends to disclose the identities of the "registered veterinarians" involved in Massey University's "Companion Animal Hospital's" “treatment” and “care” of my dog, Harry. (Gotta love what they call “treatment” and “care” . . . the “treatment” and “care” that ensured he never left alive . . . because he was never intended to). 


In my previous (May 6) email to Mr Shields, I had pre-empted the two likely strategy options Massey and the Veterinary Council would choose between in order to ensure – in their full-blown, drawn-out collusion with Massey’s management – that no-one is ever held accountable for the atrocities committed upon, and resultant demise of, my precious little Harry.


I had put it to Mr Shields that they intended one of the two following strategies.


From my May 6 email:


"Are you planning some stunt whereby:


"a) You tell me you have the names - but with nil intention to disclose them to me - and then conduct a secret squirrel "investigation" of these undisclosed individuals, before returning a "not guilty" verdict?


"OR


"b) Given that you absolutely could, if you wanted to, obtain and disclose ALL the names of every staff member and other individual who handled or was involved in Harry's case, but that you have specifically self-limited that in your email . . . are you going to make the totally predictable manouevre of siphoning off as many as possible of the wrongdoings from licensed staff and attributing them over to unnamed, non-licensed staff so that you can then “investigate” the licensed personnel only and then say that all (or as many as you could move off to) the practices in question were the decisions or actions of the non-licensed staff? And that, thus I need to take these matters up with Massey? Which is exactly what you know I’ve been trying to do since your entire collusive circular stone-walling Massey/VCNZ/Massey/VCNZ/Massey/VCNZ gyration strategy began?"


It would appear the Veterinary Council of New Zealand and Massey University and its veterinary "hospital" have decided they're going with Strategy (b).


As I pointed out, either strategy would render it incredibly easy for VCNZ and Massey to engineer a “nil findings” outcome.


The "registered veterinarians only" is the mechanism that - most especially in a "teaching" facility where multiple students, interns and unqualified, inexperienced personnel (or worse) are handling or making life or death decisions for people's (private patient) pets - can be readily deployed to ensure that the worst actors walk free . . . both those licensed practitioners whose involvements got magically shifted across to "non-licensed" staff, and/or the decisions and actions of non-licensed staff  whose actions and outcomes aren't subject to any regulatory or disciplinary body whatsoever to start with.


If you think this is me being overly cynical, no. It’s not. It’s clearly what McLachlan, Shields and co. intend to do. And here’s how it has been masterminded to work:


Here’s the offer Shields made in a sort of cloaked way in his email previous to mine . . . but that he's backed out of since reading my response and realising I was wise to his and Massey’s combined intentions.


His offer had been:


"It may be helpful to note that, where a formal complaint is made, our committees have legal powers to require information necessary to advance their investigation or reach a decision."


In my responding email I had graciously accepted:


"Great, Mr Shields. Then since you know that I have multiple times across now five months requested key information (like the names of ALL involved staff) . . . and since your ‘committees have legal powers to require’ these - then you can obtain these very easily for me."


But today, he wrote this:


“We’re not able to facilitate a personal information request on your behalf. You can contact Massey University directly about your Privacy Act request. That is the appropriate avenue to access personal information held by Massey University.”


So, switched-on readers will see clearly that, if you put those two “strategic” items together, they equal Strategy (b).


Now let’s move to Shields’s next paragraph:
 

“I mentioned a Complaints Assessment Committee (“CAC”) (sic) powers under the Veterinarian’s Act because the CAC will typically request relevant clinical records during its investigation. The purpose of obtaining this information is to assist the CACs (sic) decision-making.”


That sounds innocent and reasonable. But here’s the problem. In the main, he’s talking about the “Clinical Summary” document that I prised out of Massey originally, after its release had been the subject of a further delay (i.e. it had been caught belatedly by their Legal and Governance Department after someone at the Companion Animal “Hospital” almost released it to me without the editing and hygienising that the legal counsel found necessary . . . and goodness knows, it’s easy to tell that the undoctored version was already problematic enough for them).


This “Clinical Summary” has had every name and every position title redacted. Great. Big. Black. Boxes. Over every one of them.


So unless Massey “un-redacts" the numerous entries throughout every single page and puts the names and job titles back in, then who’s going to decide who did what in terms of the formal complaint I need to make to VCNZ for each name they finally release?
 
The answer to that is (drum roll) . . . the VCNZ Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC), of course! (The one featuring none other than
Professor Jenny Weston herself — Academic Director of Massey University's Veterinary Teaching Program and ex officio member of the VCNZ Council — who sits on the body that reviews all CAC decisions, including any decision on complaints about Massey University, the institution whose veterinary academic program she directs . . . who also previously co-authored the 2019 New Zealand Veterinary Journal study that documented VCNZ's own 67.2% dismissal rate and 1.5% uphold rate over 24 years.)


And so we circle back to Strategy (b).


It’s on the one hand elegant, but on the other hand transparent and devious:


The Clinical Summary contains NO NAMES, NO ROLE TITLES, and thus NO ability for me to see who did what with regard to Harry’s  . . . err . . . “treatment” and “care”; those who intentionally and catastrophically and repeatedly overdosed him, those who disconnected him from his IV fluids for use in student demonstrations and video productions, those who abusively “handled” him during those “activities”, the name of the “neurologist” who “examined” Harry in a collapsed and near-comatose state and in that catastrophically sedated state diagnosed him as “demented” which then became the foundational element in the falsified “neurological” diagnosis and “terminal” prognosis and the plan to deceive me into the apparent and non-negotiable need (with no second opinion allowed for) for his immediate “euthanasia”.  and those who supported “Dr” Steffi Jalava in this despicable ruse.


With those fundamental and complete set of identity, role and action redactions firmly maintained, who gets to decide who to apportion those decisions and actions to?
 
The Veterinary Council of New Zealand. The same
“leadership” team who were colluding with Massey University, through its “Dean” of the Veterinary “School”, Jon Huxley, on how my complaints would be handled . . . or, more to the point, preferably, never handled.


As you can see from the below exchange:


From: "Jon Huxley" <J.Huxley@massey.ac.nz>
Sent: 1/30/2026 3:16:00 AM
To: "Iain McLachlan" <iain@vetcouncil.org.nz>, "liam@vetcouncil.org.nz" <liam@vetcouncil.org.nz>, "Seton
Butler" <seton@vetcouncil.org.nz>
Subject: Jordan Kelly - Allegations regarding VTH care


Kia ora koutou,


I am writing regarding recent correspondence from Ms Jordan Kelly, in which she has made a number of serious
allegations about the care provided by the Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Tāwharau ora – School of Veterinary
Science at Massey University.


The School categorically refutes all of the allegations she has raised. Earlier this afternoon I advised Ms Kelly
directly that, should she wish to pursue her concerns, the appropriate pathway is through the Veterinary Council of
New Zealand, as the statutory body responsible for regulating the veterinary profession. She has now been
formally directed to engage with VCNZ if she wishes to take the matter further.


Given the nature of her communications and the pattern of escalation, the Veterinary Teaching Hospital has
declined to provide any future veterinary services to Ms Kelly. The matter has also been referred to the University’s
legal counsel, to ensure our position is clear and appropriately documented should further action become
necessary.


I appreciate that you will have received her messages, and I am sorry that you have been drawn into what is, at its
heart, a wholly unfounded complaint. Should you wish to discuss the matter, or require any clarification about the
circumstances, please feel free to get in touch with me directly.


Ngā mihi,
Jon
Jon Huxley
Head of School
Tāwharau Ora – School of Veterinary Science
Massey University │ Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North │ 4100 │ New Zealand │
│ │ www.massey.ac.nz/school-vetscience/
Pronouns: He / Him


As you can see, VCNZ Chief Executive Officer Iain McLachlan was prompt in taking up "Jon's" offer for Shields to call "Jon" for the official version:

Subject: Re: Jordan Kelly - Allegations regarding VTH care
Date: Friday, 30 January 2026 at 4:27:31 PM  Iain McLachlan
To: Huxley, Jon
CC: Liam Shields, Seton Butler

Thanks Jon. I suspect Liam and his team will be in touch.


Ngā mihi
Iain McLachlan
He | Him
Kaiwhakahaere Matua me Pouroki | CEO & Registrar
Te Kaunihera Rata Kararehe o Aotearoa | Veterinary Council of New Zealand
Level 6, Midland Chambers, 45 Johnston Street, Wellington 6011 | New Zealand
P 04 473 9600 | DDI 04 894 3705 | W www.vetcouncil.org.nz


Notably, despite my earlier Privacy Act information-release request, McLachlan's acceptance of "Jon's" kind invitation, has only just surfaced. I know exactly why. But I'll keep that up my sleeve for now.


Interesting to note that I also asked for what came next by way of communication between McLachlan, Shields, Butler and Co. and Massey's Jon Huxley and his legal team . . . but have never received any answer.


Can you just imagine how damning that subsequent communication would be. Because we’re not just talking emails. We’re talking the whole gamut of communication vehicles. Over the ensuing five months.


Readers . . . are you starting to see the depth of the collusion and the determination of Massey and the Veterinary Council of New Zealand to absolutely ensure a “nothing to see here” outcome?

Other News, Reviews & Commentary

by Jordan Kelly 16 May 2026
You BITCHES and Your Slap-Happy, Unaccountable 'Convenience Sedation' Go-To Practices. This Was My Deeply Beloved Harry . . . Who Was A Completely Normal Little Dog Just 15 Hours Earlier As He Stood Up In His ICU Cage Crying for the Comfort You Refused to Give Him . . . and Medically, Needing Nothing More Than the Urgent Rehydration He'd Been Admitted for . . . and That You Charged Me For But Didn't Give Him . . . Drugging Him Instead, for Your Student Filmfest . . . Which Was Easier for You and More Profitable for the University.
by Jordan Kelly 7 May 2026
How Do You Sleep At Night, Shields and McLachlan? How About Doing the Right Thing for Once in the History of Your Deeply Conflicted & Intentionally Useless Organisation?
by Jordan Kelly 7 May 2026
Here's Why Pet Owners Need to Stick to Their Guns When It Comes to Massey's Evasion of Accountability . . . Because Unless You Do What I'm Doing, This Is How Pets Will Continue to End Up After A 'Stay' in Massey's Companion Animal 'Hospital'
by Jordan Kelly 7 May 2026
Massey's Latest Sleight of Hand: SO Tiresome. They Expect Us to Believe they Haven't Spent A Dime on Legal Fees. They Just Tweaked the Scope of the OIA. SO Transparent.
by Jordan Kelly 6 May 2026
Oh Gosh . . . What A Coincidence . . . Same Date, Same Slippery 'Strategy', Same Low-Character and Totally Transparent Category of Ploy
by Jordan Kelly 5 May 2026
No . . . All Wasn't Quiet on the Western Front . . . Just on the Publishing Front While I Undertook the Most Emotionally Challenging Exercise I've Ever Undertaken In My Entire Career.
by Jordan Kelly 27 April 2026
SPAR K BUSINESSMAIL OUTAGE: SIX DAYS & COUNTING. Some CEOs Turn Contempt for Their Customers Into A National Sport
by Jordan Kelly 27 April 2026
Does Your Vet REALLY Only Have One Option When Your Pet Needs Specialist Care? The Answer Might Surprise You . . . Along With What That Perceived Monopoly Has Been Costing New Zealand's Pets.
by Jordan Kelly 7 April 2026
Reader Feedback: ‘Imagine If These Massey "Vets" Had Become Doctors’ . . . And Some VERY Bad News for those ‘Vets’ (And Those Who Aren’t Licensed, Too)
by Jordan Kelly 29 March 2026
The story of how unspeakably cruel, unaccountable, intentionally unnamed staff at Massey University's Companion Animal 'Hospital' repeatedly overdosed, abused, tortured, covertly converted private property (my pet) to a University "educational" resource to produce twisted student films on cell phones , while plotting to deceive me, Jordan Kelly, into believing a false sudden "neurological event/decline" diagnosis to coerce me into signing papers for my beloved little papillon, Harry's, immediate "euthanasia" , has now reached all corners of the globe and every shore and region of New Zealand. So too has the corrupt relationship between the national industry "regulator" (so-called), the Veterinary Council of New Zealand, and Massey University, as the two interlinked organisations have scrambled to rely on the same old tactics and strategies that have worked seamlessly for them for decades . . . to see them arrogantly and summarily dismiss complaints from pet owners - one after the other, after the other, after the other. Neither organisation nor the broader cast of characters involved in this sordid ordeal bargained on coming up against Harry's owner, however. None of them bargained on this owner's love and dedication to her beloved little Harry. None of them bargained on this pet owner's unwavering tenacity and investigative chops. And certainly none of them bargained on the entire series of articles this owner has now produced (and is yet to produce) - both across this public ation and in the newly-launched International Institute for Improvement in Veterinary Ethics. But most of all, none of them bargained for the international, and full-scale national, deep-dive readership I'm sure, by now, they've heard through their various channels, they're receiving. Daily. Increasingly. Obsessively. Those readers - the ones that aren't monitoring institutions, regulators and veterinary sector participants, but rather are my fellow pet parents - care deeply about what happened to Harry (because they've expressed it in submissions through this website), and they most certainly care about their own pets and educating themselves to ensure against any fate even approaching Harry's, from befalling them. It's for me, for them, and for Harry, that I hereby publish my response to the belated, buried, and begrudging Veterinary Council of New Zealand's (VCNZ) offer to source the names of those involved in the matter, from the recalcitrant Massey University. If this matter were continued under cover of darkness, as both the VCNZ, and the " leadership " and staff of its veterinary teaching facility (the facility they have the gall to misname "Companion Animal Hospital") would vehemently prefer it was, it would get no further than the 1.5% ( not a typo, that's one point five percent) of complaints that ever make it through the VCNZ "process" to any form of resolution (which probably isn't much, anyway). So in the interests of shining light into dark and seedy corners of New Zealand's veterinary sector, here's my March 29 letter to Liam Shields, the VCNZ's Deputy Registrar, in response to his March 19 cover letter that accompanied the Privacy Act information disclosure he and his CEO, Iain McLachlan, gave up only through legal obligation . . . and that, as you will read is, even so, both redacted and incomplete. March 29, 2026 To: VCNZ Deputy Registrar, Liam Shields Dear Mr Shields Thank you for your letter of March 19, 2026 and the accompanying Privacy Act disclosure. On your offer to assist with the provision of names and position titles: In response to your offer to source the names and position titles of all involved parties, I accept – with the requirement that this be a complete and unredacted list, not a partial or selective one . Specifically, and as a matter of primary urgency, I require the unredacted names and professional roles of every individual at Massey University who had any involvement whatsoever with Harry Kelly – including but not limited to: Every clinician, intern, student, and support staff member involved in his "care", “treatment”, handling and any and all associated decision-making processes, during the period of November 30 and December 1, 2025. The above category of requirement must include the licensed veterinarians that (a) the rotating intern, "Dr" Stephanie Rigg ( who misrepresented herself to me as a seasoned, senior veterinarian ), should have been supervised by, and (b) the licensed practitioner that was or should have been responsible for the intaking staff member (who I am advised by another aggrieved client of the facility - but whom is too frightened to speak out themselves because of Dean Jon Huxley's legal threat to me for doing so ) also bears the name of "Stephanie". It should be noted that I was almost certain at the time that she (the very young "Stephanie" i.e. her name was not known to me at the time) was lying when she assured me she was a graduated and fully qualified veterinarian in her own right. Given what I know now about the lack of experience and ethics with which the Companion Animal "Hospital" is staffed, I am even closer to being fully convinced that she was not a qualified vet, but rather, still a student. As I had commented in my published article , 'Massey Vet Teaching Hospital: Where Empathy Goes to Die' , this staff member looked barely old enough to have been out of high school, was clearly out of her depth, and not only had no authority over the two ICU attendants (who were engaged in social conversation and refusing any attention to Harry as he stood up in his cage screaming in terror with his legs dangerously, especially for a blind dog, outstretched through the grid of the cage door ), and despite my pleas, refused to exercise any authority over these ICU staff. In retrospect, it would seem now that this very young woman was not in a position of qualified authority to do so. Clearly, Practice Manager Pauline Nijman has at least conjoint responsibility for staffing rosters, but there must also be - in a veterinary teaching establishment - present, direct reporting chains in place at all times. If this was not the case during Harry's admission and time in the "ICU" facility, then the two licensed practitioners bearing ultimate responsibility for this failure (including its obvious systemic nature) would be Jon Huxley, the Dean of the Veterinary School , and Jenny Weston, the Dean of Massey's Veterinary Teaching Program . I place particular emphasis on this point purely because - given the Veterinary Council's already-demonstrated protectionism towards, and degree of collusion with, Massey University, its leadership and its staff - I firmly believe that you will take the opportunity to disingenuously optimise every possible technicality to avoid accountability for as many staff as you can. Every individual involved in the selection or administration of any drug or substance to Harry Kelly during that period, whether authorised, and whether documented / recorded, or otherwise . The "undocumented" and "unrecorded" element of this requirement is especially important, given Massey's continued refusal to release the Controlled Drugs Register and, in fact, its outright breach of the complete Official Information Act request of which this was a key part. To be noted, and as I made clear to Massey, I have asked for this critical document due to the demonstrable difference in Harry's condition showing between the multiple covert student videos taken of him on cell phones that morning (in outright contempt for my firm verbal and written instructions to Practice Manager, Pauline Nijman, and on forms, that Harry should NEVER be used as a training tool ) and when he was presented to me some six hours later with the ( what I now know to be just an intern's ) demand that he be "euthanased" (and the fact that the "Clinical Summary" records his last (unnecessary contraindicated sedative over)dose as having been at 9am (i.e. 1.5 hours prior to the student activity for which he was obviously further catastrophically sedated and permanently disconnected from his critical IV fluids). Every individual involved in, present during, or who authorised or participated in any filming or recording of Harry Kelly during his time in the Massey facility. Every individual involved in making, documenting, or communicating the bogus “neurological” diagnosis (that has been clearly demonstrated to have been bogus ) used to coerce his “euthanasia ”. (So as to avoid my inadvertently creating a opportunisable loophole either for you or for Massey, you should include the alternative term that will have been used in the official narrative no doubt framed for your benefit and for his, by the compromised Veterinary School Dean Jon Huxley i.e. "recommended" "euthanasia".) Every individual involved in the decision to push for the “euthanasia” of Harry Kelly, and in the carrying out of that “euthanasia”. Every individual involved in the handling of Harry Kelly's body following his death ( achieved by way of abuse, scheme and deception ) on December 1, 2025. Every individual involved in the creation of, adding to, alteration of, falsification or scrubbing of Harry Kelly's clinical and financial records , specifically including but not limited to: · The Clinical Summary ( the broader contents and claims of which, it should be noted, are inconsistent with (a) the facts, (b) prior records, and (c) logic (including between one part thereof and another, and have clearly been altered and added to posthumously) – in which a false neurological diagnosis narrative was constructed to justify the coerced "euthanasia" . (To be noted, this is not the only false inclusion in this "Summary" document .) · The Patient Change Log (Field-Level Audit) – in which the recorded time of death (false in its own right) was subsequently manually overwritten with 0:00, in a deliberate act of forensic scrubbing to eliminate the timestamp from any future audit or investigation. · The Euthanasia Authorisation form – pre-typed before my arrival at the facility and prior to any decision I was prepared to make , bearing timestamps inconsistent with the Patient Change Log. · Billing Record 636969 – in which a billable quantity was manually inflated from 1.6 to 4.0 units at 16:56 on December 1, 2025 – two minutes after the falsified time of death – and further manipulated through to approximately 19:20 on the same date. · The simultaneous triggering of both "Deceased" and "Discharge" status entries in the clinical records management system – mutually exclusive administrative statuses whose concurrent activation constitutes a documented administrative collision revealing the fraudulent closure of a live patient's file i.e. in a frenzied rush to avoid the new incoming night shift staff from questioning or investigating the day's events. · The manual "data scrub" of December 3, 2025 – performed two days after Harry Kelly's death by an individual with high-level system access, deliberately overwriting forensic evidence to obstruct any future audit, investigation or legal proceedings. All of the above conduct is the subject of Police Report OR-2484821N and engages Sections 258 (altering a document with intent to deceive), 260 (falsifying registers) and 219 (theft by conversion) of the Crimes Act 1961 (updated as part of the Crimes Amendment Act 2003). I note that Privacy Act 2020 Principle 11(e) permits this disclosure in order to uphold a statutory regulatory process, and that Massey's blanket redaction of all clinician identities is being utilised to subvert my right to file a VCNZ complaint . I further note that a Senior Standards and Advice Officer and Solicitor at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (UK) - an accrediting organisation of Massey - has confirmed in writing that veterinarians are expected to provide their names to clients so as not to prevent them from raising a conduct concern. This is an obligation that applies regardless of whether the individual is employed by a university or a private practice. On the Apparent Glitch In Your Correspondence I note that the Privacy Act disclosure includes email correspondence between Massey University and the VCNZ — specifically, a private email from Massey's Dean of Veterinary Science, Jon Huxley, to VCNZ leadership, characterising my complaint as "wholly unfounded" before any investigation has been conducted, and ending with a friendly invitation for you to contact him for his, i.e. the apparently official, version. Your letter makes no reference whatsoever to the VCNZ's response to receiving that email, either at the time of receipt or in the period since. Quite frankly, it would be a naive individual who would believe that you and/or your CEO, Iain McLachlan, and/or your point of direct connectivity between the two organisations, Seton Butler, didn't respond to - and, far more likely, enter into communication with - Dean Jon Huxley as a result of receiving that email ( signed " Jon " ) from him. I require a full account of the actions the VCNZ took upon receiving Dean Huxley's private communication, who else received it, and all subsequent communications and related discussions and decisions - which, I suspect, included the two anonymous parties with whom you and your VCNZ colleague, Jamie Shanks, discussed me and the matter, but refuse to disclose any details thereof. On the Redacted Microsoft Teams Message I challenge your refusal to disclose the content of, and the parties to or discussed during, the Microsoft Teams message/s between yourself and Jamie Shanks. You have redacted the names of two individuals on the basis of section 53(b)(i). However, given that at the time of that communication you had not assisted me with the provision of names (and still have not) nor in any other way helped me with submitting a complaint (and still have not) - and therefore had no complaint formally before you (and still have not) - I require to know: who were you discussing me with, in what capacity, for what purpose, and on whose instruction? I would appreciate the full name, role, purpose and nature of the communications involving those undisclosed individuals and the undisclosed content of the associated discussions. I am considering a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner regarding your refusal to disclose what is likely a communication or communications central to the likely compromised and collusive nature in which you intend to avoid, refuse, frame, conduct or dismiss my forthcoming complaints. On the Internal Contradiction In Your Letter Regarding Conflicts of Interest Your letter contains a direct contradiction. In your paragraph 11 you state that Professor Jenny Weston "has no involvement with CAC (Complaints Assessment Committee) investigations and decision-making." Yet, in your paragraph 12 you state that "the Council are legally required to review all CAC decisions". Professor Weston sits on the Council. Therefore Professor Weston is involved in reviewing CAC decisions - including any decision relating to my complaint about Massey University i.e. the institution whose veterinary academic program she directs. Just saying, Mr Shields. On Your Suggestion That I Contact Massey University for Assistance Am I to interpret this as outright contempt, or gaslighting, or both, Mr Shields? I do not believe that, at this stage, you are ignorant of Massey’s refusal to provide the names of the parties required for me to lay complaints with the Veterinary Council. I do not believe that, since you have been copied in on two months of repeated, multi-angled, fervent requests to Massey , which - as you know, and as you know I know - is obligated legally, morally, and by international “best practice” standards to provide these (and not to have blacked them all out, in the first instance, from the subset of records I have managed to extract), as well as in accordance with New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 and the Official Information Act 1982 . . . the instruments of our country's law through which I have so far unsuccessfully sought their release. I also do not believe you are ignorant of all the associated coverage on this website that details every minute aspect of this situation and its current status, Mr Shields. And if you are, it is to your shame, Mr Shields, given the gravity of the matter, including each and every individual, reported aspect thereof. Further, I do not believe I need to explain to the Deputy Registrar of the VCNZ why directing a complainant back to the demonstrably obstructive source entity of their complaint for assistance is entirely inconsistent with VCNZ's stated mandate of "having timely and transparent processes" and "upholding veterinary standards to protect people and animals". On Massey University's Ongoing OIA Non-Compliance Additionally, Mr Shields - since you are now, belatedly, offering - yes, there is something else you could absolutely assist me with. As you know and further to the above, the Official Information Act 1982 is the cornerstone legislation governing the mandated release of information held by publicly-funded institutions in New Zealand. It is an errant institution, contemptuous indeed of New Zealand law, that thumbs its nose at its OIA obligations . . . which, as you know, and as stressed above, is exactly what Massey University has done. I am still waiting for any communication regarding my OIA request that was due on March 13, 2026. Given your close relationship with Massey, and your no doubt desire to assist me proceed in a timely manner with the laying of multiple complaints - in keeping with the VCNZ's own stated objectives of "upholding veterinary standards to protect people and animals", "having timely and transparent processes", and its vision for "Aotearoa to have the world's most trusted veterinary profession" - I would expect you to be most amenable to urging Massey to act in a manner conducive to those objectives. As a reminder of the information I await from Massey - all directly relevant to the content of the complaints that need to be formulated for your organisation - the outstanding OIA items include but are certainly not limited to ( the below is excerpted from the OIA request also published here , as you’re of course, already aware): 1. Identity of Clinicians: The unredacted names and professional roles of all staff involved in the "care", treatment, and handling in any way of Harry Kelly during the November 30 and December 1, 2025 period, and also in the period following his death on December 1, 2025, including all staff involved in the handling of his body. 2. Conflict of Interest Disclosures (Seton Butler) : All internal records, disclosures, and management plans regarding Seton Butler's dual role as a Massey University Adjunct Lecturer and his professional advisory role at the VCNZ - and all communications of any type relating to Jordan Kelly or Harry Kelly. (**I DO BELIEVE THESE SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN YOUR OWN PRIVACY ACT DISCLOSURE PACKAGE TO ME, BUT WERE NOT.**) 3. Instructional Content Authorisation : All internal documentation, ethics committee approvals, or funding agreements related to the production of "instructional content" or clinical studies in the ICU or any other part of Massey University and/or its Companion Animal Hospital during the period of Harry Kelly's admission, and including while his body was in Massey's possession. 4. Pet Farewells Communications: All communications with Pet Farewells regarding Harry Kelly and Jordan Kelly. Specifically, not a general commentary. 5. Post-Mortem Activity : Disclosure of whether or not an unauthorised post-mortem was performed on Harry Kelly. 6. Controlled Drugs Register: All entries in the Controlled Drugs Register pursuant to the Medicines Act 1981 and the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, as they relate to the dispensing, administration, or recording of any controlled or prescription substance administered to Harry Kelly during November 30 and December 1, 2025, or to his remains. 7. Patient Record Access Log and Audit Trail : The unredacted Field-Level Audit Log and all associated system access logs identifying every staff member who accessed, viewed, created, amended, "updated" or deleted any entry in Harry Kelly's electronic patient record from November 30, 2025, to the date of Massey's response. 8. Conflict of Interest Disclosures (Jenny Weston) : All internal records, disclosures, and management plans regarding Dr Jenny Weston's dual role as Massey University Academic Program Director and her ex officio VCNZ membership - and all communications of any type relating to Jordan Kelly or Harry Kelly. 9. ICU Video Footage of Harry Kelly: The release in full of all video footage taken of Harry Kelly during his ICU admission on November 30 and December 1, 2025, and any taken after his death. Massey's previous refusal to release the footage in full is not considered adequate compliance and is not accepted. In Conclusion, Mr Shields I remain deeply concerned about the VCNZ's refusal to perform its mandated role, and about the appalling complaint uphold rate documented in the VCNZ's own published research - co-authored previously by Professor Weston herself - which recorded that, over a 24-year period, 67.2% of complaints were either not investigated at all or were dismissed outright, with a mere 1.5% upheld, and only then, on technical competency grounds . Combined with the unashamed reticence you have shown with regard to facilitating this egregious complaint (and regarding which your March 19 email directs me to your website to fill out a form regarding), I intend to hold the Veterinary Council of New Zealand publicly accountable for a transparent process in this particular case. When a veterinary "hospital" and its staff overdose , abuse, torture, conduct twisted student activities upon while in a state of the pharmacological collapse they have induced him into, intentionally engineer his most unnecessary death , and coerce me under false diagnosis to not only consenting to my dog's traumatic killing but having to equally traumatically participate in it , I tend to take the matter rather personally . As quite a large proportion of pet owners, in fact, would. Between The Customer & The Constituent NZ and the International Institute for Improvement in Veterinary Ethics , this case is being read by a New Zealand audience spanning from Invercargill to Northland, and internationally across the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, the United States, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia and South Africa. Regulatory bodies in several of those jurisdictions have been formally notified and are actively monitoring developments. This will be your opportunity to demonstrate that the Veterinary Council of New Zealand is capable of executing its regulatory duties in an ethical, honest and responsible manner. Or not. I look forward to receiving the complete list of names and position titles so that I can proceed with formal complaints against each relevant individual. One Last Point of Note, Regarding VCNZ's Chief Executive Officer In closing, I note that your Chief Executive Officer, Mr Iain McLachlan, has had so little concern - other than what appears very much to be to protect Massey University, its veterinary facility and its personnel from accountability - that he has ignored the multiple communications on which he has been cc'd for months regarding this matter, and the many provisions of the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinarians in New Zealand ("administered" by your own organisation) that Massey's veterinary "teaching hospital" is in clear and in arguable breach of ( per my January 17 article on The Customer & The Constituent and the Open Letter to him that I published alongside it ). He initially endeavoured to avoid having to respond to my request for the (albeit incomplete and redacted) information you have now provided when I initially asked for it under the Official Information Act and chose to decline that request, apparently hoping I wouldn't know I had a right to it under the Privacy Act. Now, in a statement of open contempt, he has flicked off to you the responsibility for "dealing" with me, which you are hoping to conclude by way of directing me to fill out a form on your website. And so, I would ask, if a matter of such gravity as is represented by the Harry Kelly case, is not worthy of your Chief Executive's attention, just how bad does a set of circumstances have to be, and how obviously systemic does it have to appear within an organisation (New Zealand's only veterinary "teaching" facility, no less) before it is considered one of serious concern to the Veterinary Council of New Zealand? Or is the answer to that reflected by the fact that only an inconceivable 1.5% of all complaints (notwithstanding those that are never made) to your Council are upheld . . . and only then, on grounds of "technical competency" . . . with no concern for any complaints where a compromise in ethics has played an obvious part? If none of this is of any concern to Mr Iain McLachlan, as the head of the Veterinary Council of New Zealand, it begs the question, what does Mr McLachlan do all day? Perhaps he spends his time drafting the Standards, aims and goals that your very actions and decisions are actively designed to ensure are never actually achieved. Yours sincerely Jordan Kelly Editor-in-Chief, The Customer & The Constituent NZ Executive Director, International Institute for Improvement in Veterinary Ethics (IIIVE)
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