Nashville Clinic Worker Charged With Practicing Veterinary Medicine Without a License

A 45-year-old Nashville man faces a felony charge for impersonating a veterinarian after detectives linked him to at least seven botched procedures on dogs and cats, according to a November 3 press release from the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.

Prashant Pandya, who worked at Caudle Veterinary Clinic in East Nashville, has never held a veterinary license in Tennessee. He applied for one, authorities said, and failed the required examinations. That detail sits at the center of the case: the state's credentialing system rejected him, and pet owners had no way of knowing he kept practicing anyway.

What happened at the clinic?

Police opened the investigation in September after pet owners complained about "adverse outcomes" from care they believed Pandya was licensed to deliver. Detectives have identified at least seven cases spanning August 2025 through September 2026 in which pets worsened under treatment plans he prescribed.

The cases prosecutors have described follow a pattern. Owners brought animals in for routine complaints. Conditions deteriorated after treatment.

One owner, identified only as Chris, told News Channel 5 Nashville he took his foster cat to the clinic in 2020. Pandya bandaged the cat's leg for what began as a simple limp. The leg was eventually amputated.

"Her arm, which used to be nice and fluffy and orange, was just black, just gone. And it was horrifying," Chris said.

Another owner, Staeven Frey, told WSMV4 that clinic doctors diagnosed his cat Coco with ear mites. Coco died the next day.

"It also makes me think how bad did it have to get before anyone looked into this?" Frey said. "I would drive by and get this pit in my stomach, and then to find out you're not the only one is just this horrible feeling."

How did an unlicensed examiner present as a DVM?

Nashville authorities laid out the mechanism plainly in their November 3 statement. After failing the examinations required for licensure, Pandya continued to present himself as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Caudle Veterinary Clinic, using the title "Dr. Pandya" and wearing a white coat embroidered with "Dr. P.F. Pandya DVM."

The white coat and the title did the work. Owners reasonably read both as evidence of a credential the state never granted.

What happens next legally?

Pandya was arrested on Tuesday, November 4, and bonded out. His bond was set at $15,000, according to News Channel 5 Nashville. The felony charge of impersonating a veterinarian now moves through the Tennessee court system, and the seven identified cases represent a floor, not a ceiling — detectives began their review in September and the investigative window already stretches back more than a year, with Chris's 2020 case suggesting the timeline may extend further still.

What does this change at the exam table?

For practitioners, the case is a reminder of how much trust the DVM title carries and how little verification clients typically perform. Tennessee licenses veterinarians through its state board, and owners can confirm a license status directly with that board before treatment — a step that takes minutes and that none of the identified owners in this case knew to take.

For clinic operators, the case raises a supervision question with legal weight: an unlicensed person wearing clinic-embroidered credentials delivered care at a licensed facility for an extended period. How Caudle Veterinary Clinic screened and supervised its staff will likely shape both the criminal case's aftermath and any civil claims that follow.

For pet owners, the signal is straightforward. Ask. Verify. Frey's question — how bad did it have to get before anyone looked into this — will hang over this case as prosecutors move forward, and as detectives determine whether more cases fall within the review window.