Man and dog found dead inside veterinary mobile van in Queens, unconscious man outside

A Queens veterinarian and a dog he was treating were found dead inside a mobile animal care van wedged in the snow Sunday morning — and cops believe they may have been overwhelmed by generator fumes, police sources said.

Cops and EMTs arrived at the scene on 65th Ave. and Parsons Blvd. in Flushing at about 9:25 a.m., finding a 73-year-old man unconscious outside the running vehicle.

They then found a 57-year-old man and a small dog dead inside the “Low Cost Vet Mobile,” cops said. The vehicle was parked up against a snow bank without proper ventilation and its exhaust pipe appears to have been clogged with snow, police sources said.

Investigators were looking into whether fumes from the generator overwhelmed the victims, police sources said.

The man outside the van apparently took a spill and fell unconscious, though cops are still investigating what happened, police sources said.

A generator could be seen just outside the front of the Ford E350, which was parked up against a thick snow bank on the driver’s side.

A sign on the van reads, “Danger. LP [liquefied petroleum] gas storage. No smoking or flames within 50 feet.”

Cops have not yet released the dead man’s name.

Medics took the unconscious survivor, identified by a co-worker as Garo Alexanian, to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens in stable condition. Alexanian is the founder of the mobile veterinary service.

Alexanian spoke to the Daily News in 2009 when he launched the mobile vet van service.

“I expect the program will prevent approximately 5,000 surrenders over the course of a year,” he said at the time.

A co-worker answering the door at Alexanian’s nearby home said the dead man was a veterinarian who worked with Alexanian.

“I worked with him a couple of times,” the worker said. “I’m just in shock right now like everybody is. He was a nice guy. He’d go out of his way to help you. He’d do anything for the animals as a veterinarian. … He was just an overall nice person.”

The worker said he believes that the vet who died was performing emergency surgery on a dog in the van, removing a mass from its paw, and Alexanian may have also been present.

“I know there was at least two animals in there. We have one that’s still alive. We have her on supportive fluids and warming her,” the worker said.

Regarding the dead dog, he sad, “It was a little white Scotty dog like if you see on (a) Little Caesar’s commercial. … He was being operated on his paw. He had a mass on his paw.”

Neighbor Hector Romero, 71, said he brings his cat to the van twice a year.

“They give a good price to the customers and everybody in the neighborhood,” he said. “It’s an excellent service. Very low price. People come from everywhere in the city. There’s a line.”

With Rocco Parascandola