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A suspended Canberra veterinarian will face court on Monday charged with multiple counts of possessing prescription medicines without authority, The Sunday Canberra Times can reveal. Jan Spate, aged 73, whose veterinary practice was based in Hall, will face court charged with a substantial number of offences. A joint-agency operation between ACT Health and ACT Policing allegedly uncovered the drugs in Ms Spate's home and former vet clinic late last year. She was arrested and taken to the ACT watchhouse, where she was released on police bail to appear in court on Monday. Recent complaints about the veterinary practice were brought to the ACT Veterinary Surgeons Board. As Ms Spate was unregistered, the board had no capacity to take action and the complaints were passed on to ACT Health and ACT Policing, which led to an investigation. It is alleged Ms Spate was in possession of schedule four, prescription-only medication when her home and the former clinic were raided by authorities in November. Drugs of this nature are controlled substances because of the danger they can pose to the community if mis-used. Ms Spate had been practising as a veterinarian in the ACT since 1973. In 2016, she was suspended from practising after serious complaints were made against her over a seven-year period. She signed a deed with the vet board to not seek registration for two years. However, Ms Spate then applied to become registered as a vet in NSW. This application was rejected in April, 2017 and a subsequent review by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, published in September last year, upheld that decision. According to the case documents, Ms Spate was prevented from registering in the ACT until October 2018, which meant she was also ineligible for NSW registration until that date. The findings outlined a series of complaints made about Ms Spate during her time as a veterinarian, and details about the occupational discipline she had been subject to since 2009 as a result of complaints. According to the findings, between 2009 and 2013 Ms Spate was the subject of six complaints. The ACT vet board established a professional standards panel to investigate the matters, and in particular the case of a dog named Zed. "The applicant's treatment of Zed amounted to a 'litany of failures' and caused the animal significant distress and pain, leading to its death in 'rather unpleasant circumstances'." The vet board found Ms Spate's off-label use of drugs was "dangerous and inappropriate". In August 2015, further conditions were placed on her licence including the warning to only use, administer or prescribe medications in recommended dosages. In 2014 and 2015 the ACT vet board received a further seven complaints in relation to Ms Spate. In 2016, Ms Spate announced she would cease work as a vet as a result of the agreement with the ACT vet board, and would open an animal supplies store. According to a Facebook post on the business page in October 2017, the new business was offering "herbal or over the counter alternatives" to prescription medication to treat animals. "Jan has asked please do not ask for medication that can only be prescribed by a practicing vet eg. Cartrophen injections as this is illegal for her to provide," the post reads.

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