9 Sept 2025
A disciplinary panel concluded the action was ‘incompatible’ with remaining on the register despite the clinician’s claims he had been ‘duped’.
Vet Times
Job Title
Image: Andrey Burmakin / Fotolia.
A Hertfordshire-based vet has been struck off after he illegally removed a microchip from a dog which had been stolen from her owner.
An RCVS disciplinary committee was told Amir Kashiv had believed he was acting “for the greater good” despite being unsure of his own legal position.
But it concluded his actions were “fundamentally incompatible” with remaining on the register, amid fears he may commit similar acts in the future.
Dr Kashiv was given a 12-month community order and told to carry out 50 hours of unpaid work, after he admitted carrying out the prohibited procedure during court proceedings in Stevenage in January 2024.
The case related to a Labrador, named Bella, which was stolen from her owner on 7 December 2022 and presented to Dr Kashiv 10 days later, when the chip was removed.
Dr Kashiv admitted charges relating to the incident and subsequent legal proceedings when he was made the subject of a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) last July, over failures to keep dogs that he owned under control and breaching previous orders.
He also admitted failing to keep proper clinical records but denied being misleading or dishonest and that his conviction rendered him unfit to practice.
A newly published report of the disciplinary proceedings said Dr Kashiv had told police, who arrested him two months after the procedure, that he had “trusted” the people who had brought Bella to him and claimed that she was being abused by her owner despite there being no visible signs of injury or mistreatment.
It added that Bella had been taken to Dr Kashiv’s practice by two members of an Animal Rebellion group who police believed were involved in the theft.
Dr Kashiv admitted he had not been “completely clear” about his legal position at the time he removed the chip, adding that the situation only became apparent to him at the time of his arrest in February 2023.
But he also described himself as “what’s called an animal rights person” and the committee found he had “allowed his ideology to cloud his judgment”.
It added: “His overwhelming desire to look after animals he believed were being abused meant he failed to carry out even the most rudimentary of checks in relation to Bella.”
Dr Kashiv’s representative urged the committee to impose a suspension on his client, arguing he had “come on a journey of reflection and realisation that he was duped in respect of Bella”.
However, the committee noted that an extract from a summary of his police interview that he may have committed similar acts “once or twice in the past” indicated there was a significant risk of him doing so again in the future.
Although it acknowledged a lesser sanction would be imposed in relation to the CBO alone, the panel said his actions, lack of insight and risk of committing similar acts made his removal “necessary”.
