Nina Penteado strides past fashionable shops and restaurants on Yonge St. near Summerhill Ave., where she was once a familiar sight walking her beloved dog, Colombo.

“He was a wonderful little creature,” she says. “He was like my boy.”

Penteado raised her shepherd crossbreed from a puppy, kept him 11 years, and made the gut-wrenching decision to put him down two years ago. She is now suing Rosedale Animal Hospital, its operators and two of its veterinarians in small claims court for $25,000, the maximum allowed.

She claims in court documents that vet Dr. Ian Sandler gave an ailing Colombo unnecessary vaccinations without her consent, which led to the dog’s rapid decline. “The defendants fell below the average competent standards under the circumstances,” a statement of claim says.

But the hospital and its vets adamantly deny any wrongdoing. “The defendants did not cause or contribute to Colombo’s worsening health,” they say in their statement of defence.

They insist Penteado indicated her consent for the “core vaccines” Colombo was given, which they say were nearly a year overdue. “Nor did she express any dissatisfaction when paying for Rosedale’s services,” they add in their statement.

Penteado, a licensed paralegal, says she was “shocked” at the time, but agrees she did not protest immediately because she had a good relationship with Sandler.

She spent $7,000 trying to save her dog, but is also claiming punitive damages and for her pain and suffering.

She says she wants to warn others of the perils of unneeded vaccinations.

Her lawsuit echoes a growing U.S. trend of pet owners suing vets for pain and suffering, also thought to be on the rise in Canada. No Ontario statistics are available.

Marg McKillop, a lawyer for the defendants, wrote in an email to the Star in March that they expect to call expert evidence to show the vaccinations were appropriate and met American Animal Hospital Association guidelines.

The defence will demonstrate that “the clinic and its staff at no time acted in a manner that could be considered to have contributed to the death of Colombo,” McKillop wrote.

When asked to respond to more specific allegations on Tuesday, McKillop refused. “In our view those issues ought not to be ‘tried’ in the Toronto Star but in the courtroom,” she said in an email.

According to Penteado’s claim, she phoned Rosedale Animal Hospital in February 2011 for a “general wellness” appointment for Colombo, who had chronic diarrhea due to a change in his kibble.

“The plaintiff specifically stated to the receptionist she wanted Colombo only” to be vaccinated with the “rabies shot until his underlying condition (chronic diarrhea) was resolved,” her claim says.

At the March 3 appointment, she was “shocked to find out her dog had been vaccinated regardless with a full range of shots” — distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, parainfluenza, Bordetella, as well as rabies, according to her claim.

She came back the next day, “concerned over his ongoing diarrhea,” and a vet prescribed Colombo special foods and a probiotic, her claim says.

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On March 11, she called the hospital “once again expressing concern over a wide range of symptoms” to the receptionist, the document says.

She called again on March 22 and, “gravely concerned,” spoke to Dr. Steven Davidson, saying Colombo was having trouble walking, was panting, had a thick, gelatinous drool, and had lost six to seven pounds, her claim says. Colombo was prescribed a nutritional supplement to help his joints, it adds.

On April 6, despite “his obvious deterioration,” Davidson “continued to insist Colombo was ‘extremely healthy,’” Penteado’s claim alleges.

She says she phoned again on April 7 to express concerns about his failing eyesight and wanted to see if he had diabetes because he had been frequently urinating and drinking water.

On April 11, she says, she switched to another veterinarian who soon referred Colombo to the Veterinary Emergency Clinic, where he was diagnosed with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome and pneumonia. She opted to euthanize him on June 14.

Penteado claims Rosedale veterinarians Davidson and Sandler failed to perform screening tests or refer to specialists and consistently dismissed her concerns.

But the defence document says they “met or exceeded the applicable standard of care.”

They will show the hospital’s communication with Penteado was timely and consistent, McKillop wrote.

Penteado has commissioned an expert’s report from California vet Dr. Jean Dodds, who said the vaccinations were unnecessary and unwise and “likely contributed adversely to his health.”

McKillop says their expert will show adverse vaccine reactions tend to occur within 72 hours of vaccination and there is no connection between Colombo’s shots and his bout, three months later, with the aspirational pneumonia that most likely caused his death.

The case returns to court June 4.

While not commenting on this case, Dr. Anne Walker, a Beamsville-based vet and lawyer who has practised animal law, says the number of Canadian pet owners suing for personal distress seems to be rising.

Under existing laws, owners generally can sue only for the value of pets as property and for vet bills, but Ontario courts have begun awarding damages for mental and emotional distress, Walker says.