I live in Alabama. Recently, there was a woman in our town who had a puppy hit by a car. Luckily, our town has an after hours Pet Emergency clinic. However, something shocking happened. The clinic took AWAY her Puppy because she couldn't pay the bill!
Apparently, the puppy needed about a $1,000 dollars worth of treatment. The lady could NOT pay the bill after the emergency treatment. (I believe it was a broken hip/leg) The clinic would NOT accept payments. So she had to sign the dog over to the clinic.
The next week she gathered the cash to pick up the puppy. The clinic GAVE AWAY THE PUPPY!!! THEN they wouldn't get it back! They said they did not know where the puppy was at!
I've gone to this clinc several times in the past and have depended on them for quick emergency phone calls. They charge $65 just to walk in the door. I had no choice in 2 of my cases. My cat was seriously injured and missing for 3 days prior to me finding her with a both hips broken. This Vet service was my only choice. However, I was unaware of this terrible policy.
Now I am not sure what to do in the future. I am NOT pleased with their policy. I can understand the side of the vets because they do stay overnight and work hard. But are they being too greedy?
They claim that you should always have money set aside to take care of such emergencies of your pet to be considered a responsible pet owner!!! I don't have any money set aside to take care of my OWN personal emergencies. Does that make me a bad human owner?
What is your opinion? Should I patron this establishment despite knowing they could take away my pet for not coughing up the money on the spot? Luckily in the past I did have the money available and this policy wasn't an issue. Is this policy unfair?
I am just curious if this is a policy of other vets or clinics? I still am not sure if the lady got her puppy back. The news media stepped in and maybe she got it back.
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