A southern Iowa veterinarian and dog breeder has been sanctioned a second time for unlawfully dispensing significant quantities of a controlled substance.
In September 2025, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy charged Jerry Couchman, an 81-year-old veterinarian from Weldon who practices in and around Appanoose and Decatur counties, with a variety of disciplinary charges tied to the federal Controlled Substances Act.
According to the board, Couchman, in addition to his veterinary work, “has a dog-breeding business on his home premises.” State records indicate Couchman’s kennel is occupied by roughly 70 bulldogs.
The pharmacy board charges included committing acts that would render his CSA registration inconsistent with the public interest; failing to maintain ultimate accountability of controlled substances and records; failing to create a record for all transactions of controlled substances; failing to take inventory of all stocks of controlled substances on hand; failing to create a record of controlled substances dispensed; and failing to maintain records of controlled substances separately from all other records.
The board did not publicly disclose the charges against Couchman until March 2026, which was the same month Couchman agreed to a settlement in the case.
That agreement, which the board formally approved on May 5, 2026, calls for a minimum nine-month suspension of Couchman’s CSA registration, restricting his access to controlled substances.
Couchman has declined to comment on the state’s allegations.
Veterinary board also took action
The Board of Pharmacy action represents the second time state regulators have taken action against Couchman.
Last October, the Iowa Board of Veterinary Medicine issued an emergency order indefinitely suspending Couchman’s veterinary license. At the time, the board alleged Couchman’s conduct posed an immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare.
On Nov. 4, 2025, Couchman and the board agreed to resolve the disciplinary case with a settlement agreement that called for Couchman’s veterinary license to be suspended for nine months, after which it will be placed on probationary status for three years. He was also fined $3,000.
The veterinary board records indicate it received a report from a drug distributor alleging Couchman had been ordering a significant amount of xylazine, which the board describes as “a powerful non-opioid sedative commonly mixed with fentanyl for illegal drug use,” as well as ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects that is categorized as a controlled substance.
The board said it then reviewed Couchman’s drug purchasing records from several drug distributors and determined that between January 2024 and June 2025, Couchman had purchased approximately 1,545 50-milliliter bottles of xylazine, plus 1,128 10-milliliter bottles of ketamine.
According to the veterinary board, Couchman attempted to explain the “large quantities of ketamine and xylazine” he purchased by asserting that he used the drugs for surgeries on dogs.
State and federal records indicate Couchman has done business with two Iowa dog kennels accused of “puppy laundering” — a practice that involves a repeat violator routing dogs to an associated kennel that’s operating under a different license so the animals can be sold in jurisdictions that ban the retail sale of dogs from repeat offenders.
In late 2023, a federal inspector from the U.S. Department of Agriculture visited a dog-breeding kennel in the Van Buren County town of Cantril. The business was on property owned by Steve Kruse, one of Iowa’s larger dog breeders and a repeat offender of federal regulations, but was operating under a license held by Wuanita Swedlund. Swedlund was cited for multiple violations, including the death of six puppies that were left out in the cold.
State records indicate Couchman was the attending veterinarian for the business. In December 2023, state officials instructed Swedlund to hire a new veterinarian.
