Daniel Koller, the Beaverton veterinarian who has sparked outrage and investigations throughout his career in Oregon and California, was arrested Thursday on allegations that he grabbed a dog by the mouth at his clinic and caused an injury that led the animal to be put down the next day.

Koller, 72, faces two felony counts of first-degree aggravated animal abuse and two misdemeanor counts of first-degree animal abuse, Beaverton police said.

Police and the Oregon Humane Society investigated a September report from a man who brought his Dachshund to Koller’s Companion Pet Clinic.

Over the years Koller has had his veterinary license suspended and revoked multiple times due to drug-abuse and animal-cruelty allegations. He quietly regained his Oregon license in 2015 and began practicing again.

No one answered the phone Friday morning at Koller’s Beaverton clinic.

A search warrant affidavit in the case said clinic customer Jose Figueroa reported that he took his 7-month-old Dachshund named Bleu to Koller on Sept. 20 for a follow-up visit after having left the dog there the previous day for a few hours to check a minor injury to a front leg.

Figueroa reported that when Koller entered the room, the dog showed fear, causing the veterinarian to grab the dog by the mouth, according to the affidavit. The dog urinated and defecated on the table in apparent panic and Koller “pulled Bleu off the exam table, holding him in the air while still holding Bleu’s mouth with one hand. Dr. Koller was holding Bleu with one hand by the mouth and no other support,” the affidavit said.

When Figueroa objected to Koller’s actions, Koller told him he could find another veterinarian, according to the affidavit. After Figueroa and his dog left the clinic, the dog began showing respiratory distress and an inability to open his mouth. The Dachshund had to be euthanized the next day at an animal hospital, police said in the affidavit.

Dr. Kris Otteman, vice president of shelter medicine at the Oregon Humane Society, reviewed the dog’s medical records and other material and said “they support the probability that the dog experienced a severe, short-term upper airway obstruction resulting in short-term asphyxiation while being hung by his muzzle and not supported,” court records show.

Lori Makinen, the executive director at the Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board, told The Oregonian last month that to regain his license Koller had “to satisfy the board that what caused the revocation is no longer in effect.”

Koller’s Oregon license was revoked in 2010 because he lost his federal license to dispense animal drugs and because he violated the terms of a probation agreement with the California veterinary board.

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Koller served a jail sentence in California in the late 1970s for animal cruelty. “Records show that Koller was sentenced to 100 days in jail after a German shepherd bit his hand, causing him to hold the animal off the ground, punching and kicking it,” The Oregonian reported in 2010. Koller denied the allegations.

In the early 2000s, Koller pleaded no contest in Oregon to a charge of driving under the influence, and he admitted injecting himself with a powerful small-animal anesthetic. Various former customers and employees of Companion Pet Clinic accused him of abusing animals, botching surgeries and practicing while impaired. Koller, who is also a lawyer, aggressively defended himself and his right to practice veterinary medicine.

Allegations that Koller has mistreated animals in his care led former customers of Companion Pet Clinic and local animal-rights activists to start a Facebook page devoted to raising awareness of Koller’s past.

On Friday morning, members of the group noted Koller’s arrest and shared his booking photo on the page.

Koller will be arraigned on the latest charges on Nov. 26.

Police are asking anyone who believes their pet may have been harmed at the Beaverton Companion Pet Clinic to call the department’s non-emergency number: 503-629-0111.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

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