Experience with local vet very disappointing

I AM an animal lover, and a proud owner of an eight-year-old German Shepherd.

Owing to the increase in crime in our area and the total disregard by criminals for safety measures like electric fencing and alarms, I opted to get another German Shepherd pup.

We brought the puppy home on Sunday, and after allowing time for an introduction between the puppy and the older dog, we allowed them both into the same area.

Unfortunately, after a while my bigger dog turned on the pup and as a result we had a puppy traumatised and bleeding.

Out of sheer desperation I called a local vet, and was told that the doctor was currently asleep (3pm in the afternoon) and in order for him to come meet me at the clinic, I needed to bring with me R3 500.

I refused and thanked them for their time and told them I will make another plan as I didn’t have that kind of money on hand.

It would have been cheaper for me to drive to Durban and get medical attention there for the dog.

To my surprise, they reported me to the SPCA inspector, who was extremely kind and assisted me with pain medication after I had explained to her the reason that I could not take the dog to the vet.

We had him cleaned up and realised that it wasn’t a bad bite.

However, the next day we took him to the vet (normal consulting hours) and had a little staple put in where the one wound was a bit deep.

The dog is well, he has been sent to another home because I don’t trust my bigger dog around him, but it’s extremely sad that as a responsible pet owner who has her dogs taken to the vet twice a year for check-ups, who provides them with the best food that I can afford and the best care, I was reported as being irresponsible by a vet whose first interest was R3 500 before helping the dog,

I thank the inspector for her kindness, and I will continue to support the SPCA in any way that I can, but never will I support a vet that is more concerned about his wallet than an animal’s life.

ANIMAL LOVER