BOARD CLEARS VET IN GOAT'S DEATH.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

Veterinarian Larry Bosma has been cleared by the state veterinary medicine board of accusations that he acted incompetently or negligently in treating a pregnant pygmy goat whose baby died during delivery.

The Board of Examiners in Veterinary Medicine adopted an administrative law judge's finding that the evidence against Bosma did not establish cause for disciplining him, according to documents released Friday.

``It exonerates him completely, finding that everything he did was just what we said: in keeping with quality veterinary practice,'' Bosma's attorney, Steve Schwartz, said of the ruling.

Bosma, 45, a Westside Union School District trustee and Leona Valley resident, had been accused of failing to suggest a Caesarean section or euthanasia for the goat, failed to administer painkillers and allowed his technicians to treat the animal rather than doing it himself.

Much of the dispute focused on whether Bosma refused to perform a Caesarean section, as goat owner Judy Bowers said, or whether Bowers rejected the operation because the goat's mother had died three months earlier during one.

``The burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that Mrs. Bowers' version of what transpired is correct was not met,'' Administrative Law Judge Jerry Mitchell wrote after the hearing. ``She did not appear to be any more credible a witness that (Bosma), her version of what transpired is less plausible than his, and her version was not corroborated by anyone who was present when she allegedly asked for a C-section and was refused.''

Bowers criticized the decision, and said she will continue pursuing her civil lawsuit against the veterinarian.

``I think it's a big joke,'' Bowers said. ``If he can live with himself, that's up to him.''

Bosma continues to face a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty filed in criminal court independent of the veterinary board proceedings.

Schwartz said prosecutors told him they would dismiss the criminal charge - which had earlier been reduced from a felony - if the state board absolved the veterinarian.

But Deputy District Attorney Kelly Kromer said prosecutors made no such commitment.

``We said we'd consider what happened,'' Kromer said.

Kromer said the District Attorney's Office had not yet seen the state board's decision, and had made no decision yet whether to drop the charges or continue the prosecution.

Goat owner Bowers said she brought her goat - named Mama Lu - in June 1994 to Bosma's North Valley Veterinary Clinic after the animal went into labor but was having trouble delivering.

Although Bosma said he told Bowers through a receptionist when she called earlier in the day that his hands were too big to work on goats, she said she went to the clinic because she could find no other veterinarian available, the judge's report says.

Bosma said the goat was experiencing dystocia - an inability to give birth, a potentially fatal condition. Because the 6-foot-8, 350-pound veterinarian's hands were too big, he directed his assistants in attempting to deliver the baby goat and then, when it was determined it was not alive, performed a fetotomy - removal of the dead baby in parts, the judge's report says.

The judge said the veterinarian satisfactorily explained his decision not to administer a painkiller by saying that deadening the mother goat's reaction to pain meant less response from her if a technician improperly used the fetotomy instrument.

The goat's weakened state from prolonged labor also increased the risks of anesthesia, the veterinarian said.

The judge also discounted the accusation that the veterinarian acted improperly in letting his technicians do the work.

``The situation in which Mrs. Bowers placed (Bosma), and her representation that he was the only veterinarian available, gave him no acceptable option other than to proceed as he did,'' the judge wrote.