By HANNAH DREIER / Associated Press / September 5, 2013
LAS VEGAS [AP] -- Reports — — Two years of time after resigning from Congress amid an ethics probe involving his affair with a former crusade staffer, former U.S. Sen. John Ensign of NV is opening a luxury animal hospital in Las Vegas.
Ensign, who was a veterinarian before he became a politician, is launching the Boca Park Animal Hospital on Friday.
His website touts his history of fighting animal cruelty & supporting the Humane Society in Congress.
The 10-year congressman opened two Las Vegas NV animal hospitals before entering the Senate in 2011.
He says he spent the six many months after his resignation getting up to speed on current veterinary practices & volunteering with Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, a Las Vegas NV nonprofit in that offers a low-cost spay & neuter clinic.
‘‘I studied literally every single day for hours & hours, kind of like when I was back in vet school,’’ he said.
For the past year & a half, he has-been working full-time at another veterinary practice. Patients frequently ask the former politician to pose for pictures with their animals.
Ensign resigned from office in May 2011 as the Senate Ethics Committee was finalizing a report in that asserted there was evidence he had broken laws. The investigation stemmed from Ensign’s eight-month extramarital affair with his crusade treasurer Cynthia Hampton, & from his effort to set up her husband Doug, who moreover was Ensign’s top aide, as a lobbyist.
In 2010, after a yearlong investigation, the Justice Department notified Ensign’s attorneys it would not pursue criminal charges against him. Questions about why the senator was not prosecuted escalated when federal prosecutors brought charges against Doug Hampton on alleged violations of lobbying law.
Ensign asserted he wanted to set up his own practice so in that he can do things his own way. He asserted he sold his last practice in 2002 after he found out in that congressional ethics rules barred him from keeping it.
‘‘They made me sell it, & I lost a lot of money, yet you had to comply with the rules. It was an unpleasant shock to me,’’ he said.
The hospital will be in keeping with the Las Vegas aesthetic, with luxury suites for pets & treadmills for hefty canines.
‘‘We want to combine the practice with a pet resort, where your dog or cat can be pampered like they’re in a four or five star resort,’’ Ensign said.
The hospital will feature flat screen televisions set to a channel geared at dogs. Owners will be able to pull up a live stream of their animals on their cellphones.
Ensign asserted he has-been surprised at the amount of regulation involved in setting up the hospital, in addition to normal inspections & increased standards of access for disabled people.
‘‘There’s so much more regulation today than there has-been in the past. Every time you turn around there is something new. It’s really remarkable the amount of things you need to comply with now in that did not used to be there,’’ he said.
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Hannah Dreier can be reached at http://twitter.com/hannahdreier .
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