Avenues Pet Clinic (Rodney Hartshorn, D.V.M.)
Outcome
Avenues Pet Clinic veterinarian Dr. Rodney Hartshorn paid $30,000 to resolve CSA violations after DEA investigators found that the clinic routinely accepted returned client medications into an unlocked "donated" bin and redistributed them to other clients, and that the clinic had systemic recordkeeping failures and unsecured controlled substances.
Details
Avenues Pet Clinic — Unauthorized Controlled Substance Return and Redistribution (2024)
Outcome: Avenues Pet Clinic veterinarian Dr. Rodney Hartshorn paid $30,000 to resolve CSA violations after DEA investigators found the clinic routinely accepted returned client medications into an unlocked "donated" bin and redistributed them to other clients, and that the clinic had systemic recordkeeping failures and unsecured controlled substances.
Avenues Pet Clinic, operated by Dr. Rodney Hartshorn, D.V.M., age 58, is located at 5520 Yellowstone Road in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The DEA Cheyenne Tactical Diversion Squad and Diversion Investigators from the Rocky Mountain Field Division initiated an investigation based on a tip alleging that the clinic's handling of controlled substance returns was unlawful.
According to the investigation, the clinic routinely instructed clients who had unused controlled substance medications to bring them back to the clinic. The clinic then placed these returned controlled substances into an unlocked "donated" medication bin and subsequently allowed those medications to be used for other clients' animals. This practice violated multiple requirements of the Controlled Substances Act: veterinary practitioners may not accept controlled substance returns from clients except through DEA-authorized take-back programs, may not store such returns without proper DEA documentation, and may not redistribute previously dispensed controlled substances to new patients.
DEA investigators conducted an inspection of Avenues Pet Clinic on April 23 and found that the unlawful return and redistribution practice was accompanied by systemic recordkeeping failures. The clinic's controlled substance records were inadequate, and investigators also found and seized controlled substances stored in the unlocked donation bin at the time of inspection.
Dr. Hartshorn executed a civil settlement agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Wyoming on November 21, 2024 (Case No. 2024-V-00086). He agreed to pay $30,000 to resolve all civil allegations under the Controlled Substances Act.
Primary Source: Local Veterinarian Agrees to Pay Civil Penalty for Alleged Controlled Substance Act Violations — DOJ District of Wyoming
How Crucible Prevents This
Crucible's controlled substance return and disposal protocols enforce DEA-compliant procedures for all client returns, including mandatory use of authorized take-back methods or DEA-registered reverse distributors — not informal clinic "donation" bins. Secure storage verification controls would have flagged the unlocked medication bin as a critical compliance failure. Crucible's chain-of-custody requirements prevent any controlled substance from being transferred from one client account to another without DEA-authorized documentation. Staff training enforcement logs would have surfaced the systemic nature of the practice — clients were routinely told to return medications — indicating organizational policy rather than isolated incident.
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