Veterinary employee arrested on drug charges

A woman who was employed at a veterinary hospital in Catoosa, Okla., is facing charges of illegally obtaining drugs from the clinic.

Amanda Limmer, who worked as a veterinary technician at Catoosa Small Animal Hospital, is being charged with 59 counts of obtaining or attempting to obtain controlled substances by fraud or forgery. A warrant was put out for her arrest July 25 and she turned herself in Aug. 2.

Amanda Limmer

Dale Fullerton, chief investigator for the Oklahoma State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, says the investigation started in November 2011 after Limmer was terminated for an unrelated reason. Workers at the hospital were looking through her paperwork when they discovered the missing drugs: 11,000 pills and 2.5 gallons of hydrocodone syrup. Catoosa Small Animal Hospital reported its findings to the Oklahoma veterinary board and has cooperated fully through the investigation.

Fullerton says he can't say at this time whether Limmer was selling the drugs or using them personally. "To me, that's a lot of different kinds of drugs to have for personal consumption—but I've seen stranger things," he told DVM Newsmagazine.

Limmer is being held on a $25,000 bond and there is no trial date set, but there has been a request for bond reduction. No date has been set for a bond reduction hearing.