A Winnipeg pet owner whose cat Shadow needed a hind leg amputated after an error during surgery says she is glad the veterinarian is being ordered to end his practice in 2026.
“I’m glad that the decision came out and I’m happy with what the decision was,” Noelle McIvor said. “I thought I was going to have to euthanize him, because he was not having a quality of life.”
Dr. Wenchao Zheng, who has an “extensive” disciplinary history with Manitoba’s veterinary regulatory body, has agreed to cease practising and retire on June 30, 2026, after he pleaded guilty to professional misconduct.
Zheng also has been permanently banned from doing orthopedic surgery, effective immediately, and is required to post a notice at his clinic, Animal Hospital of Manitoba, and on its website, stating he does not do orthopedic surgery.
He’s also required to have completed outstanding continuing education requirements by Oct. 31, renew an agreement for supervision of his practice until his retirement, and pay $15,000 toward the cost of the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association investigation and hearing into complaints against him.
Zheng was subject to a hearing by an inquiry panel under the peer review complaints committee of the veterinary association on July 29.
Documents related to the decision refer to eight prior veterinary association disciplinary cases with sanctions against Zheng, as far back as 2002.
The decision says Zheng has “an extensive disciplinary history with the MVMA and shows an ongoing disregard for their ability to impose sanctions on members and be a self-regulating body, therefore bringing the profession into disrepute.”
In a letter addressed to veterinary association council members after the decision, Zheng said he has been “unfairly singled out for disciplinary action.”
“I feel I have been systemically discriminated by MVMA peer review complaints committee for many years in many cases,” he wrote.
“The only viable explanation is that I and the Animal Hospital of Manitoba have been targeted by discriminatory action based on race or ethnicity as defined by the Canadian Human Rights Act.”
Veterinarian disciplined by Manitoba veterinary regulator
Veterinary association interim registrar Barb Kryzanowski responded to his allegations in an email.
“Dr. Zheng’s discipline history is the result of the peer review committee satisfying its mandate to review, investigate, and prosecute complaints (when warranted) that were received from members of the public,” Kryzanowski said.
“The MVMA’s actions were initiated and required because of complaints the MVMA received from Dr. Zheng’s clients.”
This is the first time an MVMA inquiry panel has cancelled a vet’s licence, Kryzanowski said.
“This is the most severe sanction an inquiry panel can order.”
Dr. Zheng said in an email that he is “ready to retire,” as long as he can find one or two vets to take over his clinic. He’s been trying to sell it for more than a year.
“Animal Hospital of Manitoba may have to be forced to close its door in 2026, what a pity,” he said.
He also said he charges clients lower exam fees than other animal hospitals in Winnipeg, and his practice has offered a subsidy program on veterinary fees that has waived $253,000 in fees for more than 1,000 families.
The inquiry panel heard four complaints against Zheng’s veterinary work â two from members of the public in 2023 and two referrals by the MVMA registrar in 2024.
The two most recent complaints by pet owners involved cats. One of them was McIvor’s complaint about the care given to Shadow.
Zheng diagnosed Shadow, a young cat, with severe osteoarthritis of the right hip and did surgery in August 2023, but Shadow was still lame after the operation, the decision says.
Shadow’s right hind leg then had to be amputated about four months later by a different veterinarian.
“It was excruciating to watch him go through recovery,” said McIvor, who worked at Dr. Zheng’s veterinary practice and submitted a complaint about him to the veterinary association the same day as the amputation.
“[Shadow] was not happy. Any time he would move, he would just, like, cry and be, like, in an aggressive manner, and he couldn’t walk. He was swaying back and forth and he could not spin without falling over,” McIvor said.
“This is horrible to watch,” McIvor said, “and I wouldn’t recommend it for anybody.”
Zheng wrote that he realized he caused Shadow’s post-operative lameness and told McIvor he was responsible.
He said he was “willing to assume all financial responsibility to improve Shadow’s quality of life,” and that he paid another veterinary hospital $3,418.83 to cover Shadow’s right hind limb amputation.
In the second case at the July 29 hearing, the inquiry panel found there were complications after Zheng did surgery on the left hind leg of another cat, and other issues related to the cat’s treatment.
The two cases referred to the hearing by the veterinary association registrar involved Zheng not completing previously ordered continuing education on subjects related to his veterinary practice.
The decision and order by the Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association peer review complaints committee was posted on the MVMA website in October.
Only a certified orthopedic surgeon is allowed to perform orthopedic surgery at Zheng’s Main Street clinic, the decision says.
Orthopedic surgery is used to treat disorders of bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, spinal cord and nerves, the decision says.
Despite previous requirements that Zheng do hours of continuing education, “there appear to be severe deficiencies in his knowledge of current anesthesia recommendations,” which are “critical to safely and ethically provide surgical services of any kind, not just orthopedics, to the public,” the inquiry panel decision says.
The panel also said as an experienced veterinarian, Zheng should be aware of requirements to get informed consent for medical and surgical procedures, and to provide a prompt referral for care that is outside his experience, such as orthopedic procedures.
McIvor thinks the MVMA should do more to hold veterinarians to account when they have multiple findings of professional misconduct.
“I don’t think a slap on the wrist has done anything for certain veterinarians who have repeat offences against them,” McIvor said.
“I think they need to be holding their doctors at a higher level, a higher standard than other people.”
Gordon Goodridge, a retired veterinarian, supervised Zheng’s practice for the past two years and “got to know him as a hard-working veterinarian who does his best to provide a service to his clients in a financially depressed area of Winnipeg,” he said in an email to CBC News.
“It is not always easy to provide state-of-the-art veterinary care when many of the clients cannot afford that level of care,” Goodridge said.
“Dr. Zheng appears to be well-liked by his staff and clients.”
