My dog Max died after 19 months of treatment by 5 veterinarians. No one ever told us he was dying. So we drafted a proposed NY law. link below.
My name is Maria, and together with Edwin Perez, we drafted what we’re calling “The Max Perez Animal Care Protection Act” after losing our dog Max on April 8, 2026.
Max was a Maltese Poodle treated by five different licensed veterinarians across New York over roughly 19 months.
His records showed:
• repeated abnormal bloodwork
• multiple emergency visits
• bleeding episodes
• progressive decline
But despite all of that, no provider ever told us — verbally or in writing — that Max was likely nearing the end of his life.
Testing continued.
Procedures continued.
Bills continued.
We trusted the professionals and followed every recommendation because we believed there was still a path forward.
Max ultimately died in our living room in our arms.
After reviewing the records, we discovered something we believe is a major legal gap in New York:
Current veterinary law generally prohibits negligence, but it does NOT specifically require:
• prognosis disclosure
• coordinated care between multiple veterinarians
• medication reconciliation
• hospice transparency
• end-stage communication
• written disclosure when continued diagnostics are unlikely to materially change outcome
So we spent months building a citizen-drafted legislative proposal called:
THE MAX PEREZ ANIMAL CARE PROTECTION ACT
The proposal would require:
• written prognosis disclosures
• coordinated provider communication
• medication safety review
• hospice/end-of-life transparency
• billing transparency
• diagnostic necessity disclosure
• public disciplinary reporting for malpractice/deception
One of the most important parts says families deserve to be told when additional tests are unlikely to improve outcome or quality of life.
Sometimes families don’t need another test.
They need honesty, compassion, and time to say goodbye.
We also created a memorial timeline/comic documenting Max’s story because we never want another family to go through this without answers.
We know legislation is difficult.
We know not everyone will agree with every proposal.
But we genuinely believe veterinary transparency laws need to evolve alongside the reality of how deeply people love their pets.
If you’ve experienced something similar, I’d truly like to hear your story.
For Max. 🤍