Cruel Vets
I posted about cruelty to animals in one of my other blogs about a year ago. Needless to say, I was quite upset at the time and didn’t bother to look at it from any other point of view. This is a topic I feel strongly about and I highly doubt I can be too objective even now.
Our local vet believes that strays only deserve 72 hours to either be adopted or found by their owners. However, even though you cannot visit on the weekends (there goes 48 hours) or after office hours, this “off” time counts against the animal. There have been numerous attempts to start a Humane Society Animal Shelter in the next city over that would house the entire county’s strays. I understand how hard it can be to take care of multiple animals all vying for your attention at one time. It’s amazing that all the money raised for the shelter has been used up by the same vet.
A recent editorial in the local newspaper stated that even after being cornered by an organization over the use of the funds, proper paperwork was not found for all of the money. The vet could only account for roughly half of what they had used. There have been more complaints than I care to count over the care of animals inside the vet, without even considering the 72 hour rule.
For instance, an animal of mine hated strange places, but had ear mites and needed medication. Instead of telling me what was wrong initially and giving me the drops to treat it at home, I kept getting put off. They kept telling me they were treating him and that he was too sick to go home. When I went to the vet myself to get some answers (a few days later), I was shocked to find that he hadn’t eaten in days. They said he was just being stubborn and would get over it and that I should leave him there. So instead of treating my animal and getting him back to me, they charged me for days of “treatments”. Simply put, I picked up the same ear drops at a farm supply stored and he was well within two days. He didn’t have to starve or be afraid.
Would it have been that difficult to diagnose this on the initial visit? No. But that’s how money’s made. At the expense of an innocent animal. Another example. A woman’s dog had wandered off. Sure enough, the poor thing ended up at said vet. She called on day 1 of the disappearance. She also brought a picture up in case he was picked up at some point. On day 2 she called to check, no luck. At this point, the vet had picked up the dog, but was too busy to compare the picture to the new strays. On day 3, she called and was overjoyed to discover her dog was at the vet. This was near closing and she was told she would need to wait until the next day to pick up her pet. Upon getting to the vet on day 4, she was told that hers had been put down and she should have called when the dog disappeared. The woman had the names and times of the people and calls. According to the files, the dog had been picked up on day 1 and by the morning of day 4, was executed. She was paid off, but that doesn’t help all the others.
There has been hard evidence that the overflow animals are taken to the dump and shot. The others are placed in the gas chamber. Lethal injection is quicker, easier, and a lot less painful on the animal. Seizures and insanity ( akin to rabies) are just a few of the things these animals have to look forward to. These last for 30 minutes to an hour while the animal dies a slow painful death. How can a vet last like this? Try being on the city council and see how much you’re allowed to get away with. The sheriff is stepping in to investigate the missing funds, but technically can’t do anything about the other problems. Once again, I understand the space problems, but do they animals have to die like that? Also, wouldn’t it be a good thing to check the animals when someone calls in? Less mess to clean up later.
This truly sickens me. As you can probably guess, there will be many more such rants about this. Just imagine me after watching the animal cops shows. What I wouldn’t give to have some of those guys and gals around here.
