Blonde pet owner who wrongly claimed a vet overcharged her after taking her beagle Valentine for stitches is ordered to pay him $25,000 in defamation row
- Carrie Parker-Klein has been ordered to pay vet damages after online comments
- Court heard how vet Allen O’Grady received abuse as result of the comments
- He also closed down one of his two of veterinary surgeries after the tweets
A woman who falsely accused a vet of overcharging her after being handed a $457 bill for treating her beagle has been ordered to pay damages amounting to $25,000.
Carrie Parker-Klein, from Brisbane, took her dog ‘Valentine’ for stitches after he was attacked by other dogs.
The injured pooch needed two stitches and a course of antibiotics but Ms Parker-Klein felt she had been overcharged.
She took to Twitter and accused vet Allen O’Grady of marking up the antibiotics and other drugs by 400 per cent, The Courier Mail reported.
Mr O’Grady and his businesses Albion Vet Surgery and Eatons Hill Vet Surgery were awarded the damages by District Court Judge Suzanne Sheridan on Wednesday.
Queensland woman Carrie Parker-Klein, (pictured) has been ordered to pay a vet $25,000 after defaming him online
Ms Parker-Klein posted the messages on social media after being handed a bill for $427 by vet Allen O’Grady (pictured is Ms Parker-Klein’s dog Valentine)
Miss Parker-Klein admitted to posting seven comments across Facebook, Twitter and True Local in 2014 but denied they were defamatory toward Mr O’Grady.
‘The vet is a very grumpy (sic) who should not be dealing with people or animals,’ she wrote in one comment on October 15.
She also posted a Tweet referring to the vet on the same day.
‘Shame on you #albionvet – 400 per cent mark-up on #pet drugs after #dogattack,’ Miss Parker-Klein wrote.
Mr O’Grady said the comments resulted in him ‘receiving nasty emails, phone calls, even abuse over the phone’, and eventually leading to him to close one of his surgeries.
Ms Parker-Klein said she had researched dog antibiotics online which led to her comments, but this was rejected by Judge Sheridan.
The court found the claims the vet grossly overcharged, had a lack of morals, lacked compassion and took advantage of clients, were false and defamatory.
Ms Parker-Klein was also barred from posting any further comments online about Mr O’Grady or his business.
Ms Parker-Klein was also barred from posting any further comments online about Mr O’Grady (pictured) or his business in the future