A dog owner who sent an e-mail to friends blaming a veterinarian for its death following a spaying operation has been ordered to pay €250 in libel damages.

Bernice Ebejer made an untrue allegation and left out a very important fact when it came to the treatment of her dog Muffin, Magistrate Francesco Depasquale said.

The animal was taken to be spayed on January 18, 2010, at veterinarian Charmaine Xuereb, after which she was taken home and seemed to be recovering.

Ms Ebejer noticed her pet was bleeding but could not get hold of Dr Xuereb. She phoned the emergency line of veterinarians and was told not to worry, but when the bleeding continued she took Muffin to another vet.

The dog died from an inflamed pancreas, because it was too weak to handle the second procedure

Before doing so, a friend of Ms Ebejer, who claimed to have nursing experience, made another suture on the animal. The second doctor cleaned and replaced all the sutures and the bleeding stopped. The dog was taken home but died a few hours later.

An autopsy was carried out and according to Dr Xuereb the dog died from an inflamed pancreas, because it was too weak to handle the second procedure.

The magistrate said that, in sending out the e-mail, Ms Ebejer made an incorrect assertion that six sutures were missing when she took the dog to the second vet.

She also failed to mention that a friend of hers had made a suture on the dog before it was taken to the second vet, which were vital pieces of information for the reader to understand the whole story.

He noted that she had sent out a second e-mail which stated she was not questioning Dr Xuereb’s academic credentials but simply wanted animals treated with respect.

The magistrate also noted that the e-mail never reached the wider public and was seen by a limited number of people.