Raj’s Veterinary Practice
It is a mystery why Raj Salwan has a veterinary practice when he has a bevy of real estate properties to administer. But he does have a veterinary degree from Tuskagee University and is a licensed veterinarian. However, based on what we discovered, this may not be the best place to take your pet.
Veterinary Board Citation: In February of 2022 Raj Salwan’s veterinary practice was fined by the California State Veterinary Medical Board for having an unsanitary facility. There were six different causes for citations that were found in an inspection in October 2018. These items were found to not have been corrected in subsequent inspections in July 2019 and May 2021. The total penalty for the violations was $15,750 but the maximum administrative fine the board can assess is $5,000. Below is an excerpt from the VMB citations. The details of the unsanitary conditions that were found are documented here.
Yelp Reviews: Significant efforts have been made to hide the numerous scathing Yelp reviews for Raj’s main veterinary clinic, Tri City Veterinary Hospital. Raj admitted that he sent threatening messages to customers that posted negative reviews saying “I regret doing that.“
Two fictitious businesses, complete with their own websites, have been created to falsely move the negative reviews to these new businesses, preventing local residents from finding them. Below is a screenshot of a Yelp post by one of the reviewers who puzzled when she found that her review had been hidden by the creation of a fictitious business supposedly based in Palo Alto. Read all of the details here.
Facebook Reviews: Unlike on Yelp, Raj’s main veterinary business has many positive reviews on Facebook. Unlike Yelp, Facebook does not have a mechanism for hiding fake reviews that are not posted by actual customers but rather created by someone attempting to hide the business’ negative reputation. A closer look at the 53 reviews of Raj’s business on Facebook indicates that 43 of these come from likely fake accounts created for the sole purpose of leaving a positive review. One of these is from a Facebook account from someone named “Christy Wright” whose profile photo is a photo of actress Rose McGowan (see below). Read all of the details here.
No undergraduate degree: The website for his vet practice (screenshot at right) implies that he graduated from UC Irvine in only 3 years. However, an attempt to verify the degree shows that he only attended for three years but never earned a degree. (One does not need an undergraduate degree to attend veterinary school.)
Fined by OSHA: In 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspected the American Animal Hospital after receiving a complaint regarding the business, and found three violations relating to both health and safety issues and levied a $225 fine. The violations related to a lack of hand towels or warm-air blowers in the bathroom, unsafe floors, and a lack of warm running water or soap in a bathroom.