You can file a complaint to the Finnish Food Authority if you suspect a veterinarian has committed a mistake or act of negligence in an animal’s care, or other wrongful conduct as a professional veterinarian. The activities of exercising a profession refer to the actions taken by a veterinarian that either require competence in veterinary medicine or knowledge of the release of information and sec ...
You can complain of a veterinarian’s activities if you are the owner or possessor of the animal. However, the complaint can be submitted by any third party as well.
Do not submit a complaint of the same matter to several authorities. A matter concerning suspected veterinary malpractice can also be instituted through the Assessment Board for Damages in Veterinary Practice or the Consumer Disputes Board.
For the sake of clarifying the matter, we recommend that you submit the complaint as soon as possible after the matter in question has occurred. The Finnish Food Authority will not investigate a matter that happened over two years ago, unless there is a special reason to do so.
If you want to initiate a complaint of a veterinarian’s actions to the Finnish Food Authority, please fill in the enclosed form and send it to the Finnish Food Authority. If the complaint concerns suspected veterinary malpractice in an animal’s treatment, please attach the patient documents and patient discharge instructions to the form. Please also include the possible patient documents concerning the animal’s follow-up treatment, which was given after the treatment that is the topic of the complaint. In case the animal has died during the treatment, or soon after it, the Finnish Food Authority recommends a pathological autopsy to find out the cause of death. In that case, also include the autopsy report to your complaint.
If you suspect that there has been a mistake in an animal’s treatment, you should first contact the animal clinic that provided the veterinary service in order to settle the matter and to enter a possible claim for compensation. The Finnish Food Authority cannot order a veterinarian to compensate the owner or possessor of an animal, even if the veterinarian is guilty of wrongful conduct. If an agreement cannot be reached for the compensation of damages, you may, for example, take the matter to the Assessment Board for Damages in Veterinary Practice or the Consumer Disputes Board, or to the general court as a civil matter.
The Finnish Food Authority will also not process claims for criminal liability.