A South Florida couple says they took their young Cane Corso named Apex in for surgery on his right shoulder \u2014 only to discover afterward that a mobile veterinary surgeon had operated on the left leg instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dog’s owner later filed a veterinary malpractice lawsuit against two South Florida veterinarians, alleging the mistake delayed the surgery Apex actually needed and left the couple facing additional expenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A limp leads to surgery<\/p>\n
Apex, who is just shy of his second birthday, began limping as a puppy — according to Raphie Shin, whose boyfriend is the dog\u2019s owner. So, they took Apex to their vet.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kind of whimpered when he manipulated his right shoulder. And so, he said, \u2018OK, let’s get X-rays,\u2019\u201d Shin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to an exhibit filed in the lawsuit, a radiology report revealed a \u201c\u2026right shoulder lesion\u2026typical of osteochondrosis (OCD)\u201d — a developmental joint disease that mostly affects large-breed dogs.<\/p>\n
Shin says their veterinarian recommended surgery.<\/p>\n
In April 2025, they took Apex to Good Care Animal Clinic in southwest Miami-Dade for the procedure.<\/p>\n
Shin says they were told the surgery had been successful and they could pick up Apex later in the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘It was shocking’<\/p>\n
But once Apex returned home, Shin says they quickly realized something was wrong.<\/p>\n
Instead of a surgical incision on his right shoulder, Apex had been shaved and stitched on his left shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was shocking. We were in disbelief,\u201d Shin said.<\/p>\n
The discovery has sparked an eight-month legal battle that is now playing out in Miami-Dade court.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed last November by Apex’s owner, names the veterinarian who performed the surgery, Dr. Mario Cabrera and two of his businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Cabrera promotes his mobile veterinary surgery business online, saying they travel to practices in the area in a GMC Hummer: \u201cI am fortunate to have teamed up with veterinarians from more than 100 hospitals in South Florida,\u201d Dr. Cabrera says in a video posted on the Cutting Edge Surgical Referrals website.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Adalberto Cotelo is also a defendant in the lawsuit. The veterinarian did not perform the surgery, but his Good Care Animal Clinic billed for the procedure. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Veterinarians acknowledge wrong-side surgery<\/p>\n
In a court filing responding to the lawsuit, the defendants: \u201cAdmitted that Dr. Cabrera mistakenly performed a surgery on Apex\u2019s left shoulder\u201d and they \u201c\u2026did not initially realize their error\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The filing states that after recognizing the mistake, Dr. Cabrera apologized and told the dog’s owner there was a lesion on the left side that would have needed attention in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Willard Shepard, the attorney for Apex\u2019s owner and a former NBC6 reporter, disputes that explanation.<\/p>\n
“There was never any reason to cut open the left shoulder at all,” Shepard said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shepard points to an email, filed as part of the lawsuit, from the board-certified veterinary surgeon who later operated on Apex’s right shoulder.<\/p>\n
In that email, that vet wrote that Apex’s \u201c\u2026left shoulder was completely normal\u2026” and “\u2026was likely opened and no procedure was performed.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not complicated at all. It is a difference between knowing your right and your left,\u201d Shepard said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn’t tell him when they called him, \u2018hey, we operated on the wrong limb.\u2019 They let him pick up the animal. They didn\u2019t say a word to him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Court records show the defendants offered to perform surgery on Apex’s right shoulder at no cost. Apex\u2019s owner declined the offer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Refund dispute<\/p>\n
The lawsuit also alleges the defendants refused to immediately refund the cost of the surgery and that getting the nearly $5,200 returned was conditioned on Apex\u2019s owner signing a confidential settlement. The defendants denied the allegation in a court filing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The money was ultimately returned more than two months later, according to the complaint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The attorney for Dr. Cotelo and Good Care Animal Clinic told NBC6 in an email: “While we appreciate your journalistic efforts, we simply cannot comment on pending litigation. Doing so runs the risk of influencing any future jury empaneled in the case.”<\/p>\n
NBC6 also reached out to Dr. Cabrera’s attorney for comment but has not received a response.<\/p>\n
‘It’s been a big financial burden’<\/p>\n
Shin says the situation has taken both an emotional and financial toll: \u201cIt’s been a big financial burden. We couldn’t get Apex the correct surgery till three months later because we had to wait to make the money.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although Apex has since undergone surgery on the correct shoulder, Shin says he continues to struggle with mobility issues, requiring therapy and limiting him to short walks. She worries about his future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want Apex to have like as normal as possible, a normal life,\u201d she said emotionally. \u201cBecause he didn\u2019t have his normal puppyhood. I just want him to be pain free.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next\u00a0<\/p>\n
Apex\u2019s owner has filed complaints against both veterinarians with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Both veterinarians have active licenses.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit is ongoing in Miami-Dade County court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A South Florida couple says they took their young Cane Corso named Apex in for surgery on his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226,2033],"class_list":["post-349366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-only-on-6"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}