Allow me to share a somewhat similar story:

My mother had a dog, Twiggy. She inherited Twiggy when she did Elder Care. The former owner passed away and my mother took Twiggy. Twiggy was about 14 years old and while with my mother lived a much pampered life. Twiggy was diagnosed with a type of nose cancer when she was about 17 years old. My mother opted for surgery and that prolonged Twiggy’s life for a few months. When it was evident that she was in pain and no longer enjoyed life, my mother and her vet decided it was time to put Twiggy down.

My mother made the appointment. A new vet working in the same office suggested an experimental new procedure to prolong Twiggy’s life, however could not guarantee the survival rate. My mother decided to go through with putting Twiggy down. When the time came my mother was way too upset to stay at the vets, so she dropped Twiggy off and made arraignments to pick up her ashes.


My mother was billed for euthanasia and cremation. The office even signed and sent a sympathy card.

A week later my mother gets a call from a friend who fosters dogs. (We live in a small town of about 8,000) The friend was asked by the vet’s office to foster this dog who had been given up by someone who no longer wanted the dog. Long story short the dog was my mother’s Twiggy! Instead of putting her down they did the experimental surgery. Needless to say off to the vet we went wanting an explanation… we got a shoulder shrug a very lame “I’m sorry. Here’s your dog back. We will cancel all bills.” Twiggy lived another month and died in the middle of the night after much suffering. My mother sat up with her in the middle of the night and it was very traumatic for both. (We have no Emergency Vets in the area. They are about 90 minutes away.) This was exactly the suffering my mother did not want Twiggy to go through.

According to the Washington Veterinary Board of Governors this happens far more often than anyone knows. While it is unethical, and frowned upon it does happen. Since this happened to my mother and not me, I was not able to file a complaint. However, this vet lost a lot of business. I do not hesitate to share Twiggy’s Story.

In this small town we only have about 3 Vet’s. When I removed LOUD Louie from this Vet’s care and went to another. I made sure they knew why we were switching vets. They informed us that they had heard that same complaint from about Twiggy’s vet from many people.

I hope these people in Allentown, Pa., win. I am thankful that their newspaper printed at least a tiny story on the matter… our local paper wouldn’t even touch Twiggy’s Story!