B
billybobjenkins
Guest
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? California
I have a dog who means pretty much everything to me.
And unfortunately she's dying of cancer, so her health is a bit shaky.
She got a really bad infection and needed surgery on her knee, so I took her to the "best" specialists in town. After charging me around $3k (over their initial estimate of $1500-$1800), I paid them the $2k I could come up with and took my dog home with a balance of just over $1000.
After a couple days of healing from the surgery, she started to eat again, which was very comforting. She hadn't gone to the bathroom except to urinate, which I presumed was because she had trouble squatting (because of the repaired knee). Right after eating she finally tried to defecate, and was unable - I guessed this was because it had been so long and perhaps she was constipated, so I waited. She stopped eating. The next day she tried to go to the bathroom again and still could not, and she still wouldn't eat.
Finally in the evening I was getting worried so I went to the vet and recommended a "pet enema" - which is a syringe device filled with gel. When I took it home to give it to my dog I discovered, much to my shock, why she hadn't been able to go to the bathroom - it turns out they had sewn her anus shut.
I was flabbergasted. They had operated on her *knee* - not on her anus - and when I immediately called my regular vet (not the specialist) they were as shocked as I. When I took her in later they seemed to be trying to calm me for the sake of their peers and told me that the vets sometimes use sutures to close a dog's anus so they don't evacuate under anaesthetic, so it likely wasn't malicious. Even so, my dog was released from their care in this condition and was left with her anus sewn shut for close to a week.
My question is, what now?
I'm not even sure how to deal with this - I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that somebody harmed my dog, much less the people who were supposed to care for her.
I understand that generally dogs are considered "property" under the law, and that since my dog is still alive, there is likely no "property damage" - but I can't help but wonder what would happen if I had brought my child to the hospital and they had sewn her anus shut.
I'm tempted to tell them I'm not going to pay the remainder of the balance (or even ask for my money back), though I realize I might not have much of a legal grounds. I haven't talked to them about it yet, but I'd like to know where I stand ethically and legally on this issue first.
Any thoughts from anyone who has veterinary legal experience? (or even an opinion on the ethics of the whole situation - it's a bit much for me to even put in my head at once).
I have a dog who means pretty much everything to me.
And unfortunately she's dying of cancer, so her health is a bit shaky.
She got a really bad infection and needed surgery on her knee, so I took her to the "best" specialists in town. After charging me around $3k (over their initial estimate of $1500-$1800), I paid them the $2k I could come up with and took my dog home with a balance of just over $1000.
After a couple days of healing from the surgery, she started to eat again, which was very comforting. She hadn't gone to the bathroom except to urinate, which I presumed was because she had trouble squatting (because of the repaired knee). Right after eating she finally tried to defecate, and was unable - I guessed this was because it had been so long and perhaps she was constipated, so I waited. She stopped eating. The next day she tried to go to the bathroom again and still could not, and she still wouldn't eat.
Finally in the evening I was getting worried so I went to the vet and recommended a "pet enema" - which is a syringe device filled with gel. When I took it home to give it to my dog I discovered, much to my shock, why she hadn't been able to go to the bathroom - it turns out they had sewn her anus shut.
I was flabbergasted. They had operated on her *knee* - not on her anus - and when I immediately called my regular vet (not the specialist) they were as shocked as I. When I took her in later they seemed to be trying to calm me for the sake of their peers and told me that the vets sometimes use sutures to close a dog's anus so they don't evacuate under anaesthetic, so it likely wasn't malicious. Even so, my dog was released from their care in this condition and was left with her anus sewn shut for close to a week.
My question is, what now?
I'm not even sure how to deal with this - I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that somebody harmed my dog, much less the people who were supposed to care for her.
I understand that generally dogs are considered "property" under the law, and that since my dog is still alive, there is likely no "property damage" - but I can't help but wonder what would happen if I had brought my child to the hospital and they had sewn her anus shut.
I'm tempted to tell them I'm not going to pay the remainder of the balance (or even ask for my money back), though I realize I might not have much of a legal grounds. I haven't talked to them about it yet, but I'd like to know where I stand ethically and legally on this issue first.
Any thoughts from anyone who has veterinary legal experience? (or even an opinion on the ethics of the whole situation - it's a bit much for me to even put in my head at once).