In a nutshell, the story goes like this. Couple takes dog in for spay. Dog discharged same day. Later that evening, dog is having problems. Owners call veterinarian, who is closed and the recording directs them to the nearest ER. Dog goes to ER, ER DVM decides dog is bleeding internally and needs emergency surgery. Couple can't afford estimate, and is declined for Care Credit. The cold, heartless bastard of an ER vet actually expects to be paid* and therefore is unable to perform the surgery when the owners inform him of their lack of finances. The owners also decline humane euthanasia. Despite warnings that the dog will likely not make it through the night, the owners take her home where she dies.
*Please note the extensive use of the Sarcasm font
Then, as if that's not enough, the owners post on Facebook how this mean, nasty, horrible vet overcharged them for the estimate and wouldn't save poor Fluffy. The ER vet in question is now getting hate mail, emails and phone calls. Awesome sauce!
BUT - the reason I share this is because of the comments on the bottom. I think some of the commenters must frequent one of my favorite vet blogs, Veterinarians Behaving Badly because they are about 75% awesome. The lame-brains are saying "He should have treated the dog regardless of money!" and the awesome folks are out in force saying "Why? Because who else do you know works for free? Grocery stores? They want to get paid. You're hungry? Too bad, come back with cash."
Typically I don't read the comments on articles like this because they raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels but these restored my faith in humanity.
Yes, I love animals. No, I will not work for free. If you want to own a pet, you should have a savings fund or a back up plan for financing an unexpected large bill. I'm a veterinarian, not a bank.
No comments:
Post a Comment