What would you do with an injured stray?
By Dr. Tony Johnson
November 15, 2009
I thought it might make for some interesting and controversial stuff to get all interactive and write about a thorny topic: the medical care of injured strays.
It might seem, at first blush, like veterinarians would love this sort of thing: A busted little stray critter comes to you as a doctor, and your best medical instincts kick in – you go all out to save the animal, reuniting him or her with the loving family, as a choir of heavenly angels sing and the afternoon light fades to a brilliant golden amber over the pond. (Incidentally, in my own version of Heaven, dancing imps who look vaguely like Bea Arthur bring me never-ending bottles of YooHoo. But no matter).
The reality is usually quite different, and in my 13 years as an ER vet, stray cases became some of the most divisive and hard fought ones I can remember.
So, I want to open up some discussion – after all, that is what this website is all about; discussing all things pet! I will post a scenario, and then patrol the comments for one week for “votes” on what folks would do if in this situation. I will offer up a few realistic options for the next step at the conclusion of each week.
After a week, I will tally up the comments and take it to the next level for the following post until it is resolved one way or another. The course of this is dependent only on your responses and what little grey matter I have remaining. Majority wins (this is a benign dictatorship, my loyal readers) – whatever the most common answer is will guide the case for the following week.
There is no right or wrong here as this is only an exercise. I have been in so many stray situations, and have had it end up many different ways. I have had the miraculous saves, the tearful homecomings…but I have also had the screaming “I never authorized that!!” and the angry “how could you do that!?” On occasion, I would also get the rather quizzical “Why aren’t you wearing pants?” but that is a topic for a different day.
Let your own conscience guide you on this journey and try and respond honestly to what you would do if you were in this situation.
Here’s the setup:
It is Thursday night, 8 p.m. You are wearing green shoes. Your name is Raul and you like bananas.
You are a Libra.
You are returning from a nice dinner with your BFF and you notice an injured stray dog lying by the side of the road in a ditch. The dog has a collar but no tags, and appears to be in otherwise good health. He seems friendly given the circumstances. You know that the local veterinary ER is open at this hour. You have a good opinion of this ER as your vet recommends it and you took your dog here last year when he had a mild bout of colitis. You consider yourself a pet-lover, and are fairly well-off (you’re not eating generic Mac-n-Cheese; you go for name brand!)
Luckily for you, and the dog, you have an empty cardboard box in the back of your car and some pantyhose in the glove box (Raul – you naughty monkey!). After gently muzzling him with the pantyhose, you scoop the dog up with the aid of the box. You feel a crunch as you move the dog, like the feeling you get when squeezing a bag of crushed ice. You head for the ER.
When you get there, the receptionist has you fill out the paperwork, and the doctor examines the dog in the back after a technician got the box out of the car for you. The receptionist tells you the exam fee is $92, and you let them know that this is not your dog, but a stray you found on the side of the road. Her pierced eyebrow lifts a bit, but she says nothing.
The exam room door swings open, and the doctor invites you in to talk.
He begins by explaining that the dog has no ID, no microchip. Nada. He has asked the receptionist to check with the local humane society, online and in the lost section of the paper and nothing has surfaced to lead to an owner. Since you are the closest thing to an owner, you will be making the decisions. Gird your loins.
The dog’s injuries are serious, but not immediately life-threatening, he tells you. Based on his physical exam, the dog has at least a broken femur (the long bone in the thigh) and may have pelvic fractures (that’s the squooshy crunch you felt when moving him). He also has some nasty “road rash” on his side and a few scrapes and cuts. There are many other injuries possible, and he runs through the list with you: ruptured bladder, internal bleeding, collapsed lung, etc. He has already given the dog an injection for pain, and now wants to know how you would like him to proceed. He hints that the clinic’s finances for dealing with severely injured strays are “limited,” but doesn’t elaborate on what that really means. The dog’s pain is controlled to the point that he does not feel that he is suffering, and the known injuries are fixable with a good quality of life in the future unless complications develop.
He estimates that the basic workup to establish the extent of the injuries will cost about $400 and will entail X-rays and some lab tests. The dog will also require wound care, antibiotics and IV fluids. The femur will cost about $900 to repair if he does it and probably about $1800 if it is done by an orthopedic specialist. Knowing what you are thinking, he says it cannot be splinted or allowed to heal on its own.
He also tells you that you can decide whatever you like, including nothing. You can just walk away and leave the dog in his hands. Or…you can pay for the dog’s care, in the hopes of adopting him. The owners, if found, have the option of doing whatever they like – they can take the dog home, after you have paid to fix the leg…if that is the only serious injury…if they ever show up.
You can see how these situations can get mighty sticky, mighty fast!
Here’s where you get to pick your course of action!
You started this night with a glass of Merlot and some tasty scampi a la puttanesca, and now you’re in this fix! Quelle bummer!
WOULD YOU:
A) Say “Thanks, Doc – nice lab coat. I’m tail lights!” and head out of the clinic.
B) Say “I want to help this dog, but I can’t afford any of that” and offer to pay for the exam fee and the pain injection (about $125 total). His fate after that is unknown…this week
C) Say “I will pay $XXX and wait to see if the owners show up tomorrow”
D) Say “I will pay for all his care here, and fix the leg if need be. I understand that the owners can claim him anytime, but I am gambling that they won’t”
E) Some other option I haven’t thought of…
Please think it over, tell your friends to stop by and have a gander, and leave your responses in the comments section below. I will gather them all up next week, so you have seven days to ponder this conundrum (or conder this panundrum, if you prefer) – which is a lot more than most folks get in this sort of scenario.
Ready…GO!
Image: Dr. Tony Johnson, artfully cropped to deal with the “no pants” situation.
I’d ask if it would be humane and medically reasonable to pay for the care provided so far, take him home, and take him to my regular vet (who presumably would be less expensive than the emergency vet.)
You talked about repairing the leg. I’d ask if amputation would be a reasonable approach—I do know that in some circumstances it’s both cheaper, and easier on the dog, so I’d want to know if that would be true in this case.
I’d certainly have to set a dollar limit on what I could spend on the care of the dog. (Well, I would; I don’t know for sure about Raul’s income.:)) If reasonable estimates were going to exceed that, I’d spend whatever time I could buy trying to find a rescue that might be able to step in and take over care of the dog.
Comment by Lis — November 15, 2009 @ 6:28 am
I would choose (B), and feel badly about it for days. After spending $1000 on a stray cat this past year, only to have her mysteriously “disappear,” I have learned that I have both financial and emotional limitations when it comes to helping animals that are not my own. I would then, of course, throw out those green shoes. They are obviously jinxed.
Comment by Rori — November 15, 2009 @ 7:23 am
I’ve been in this situation twice. Once, as a starving college student, my decision was a sobbing version of (b) followed by frantic posting of fliers near where the dog was found, posting on the bulletin boards on campus, notifying animal control, and putting a relatively large ad in the student newspaper, of which I was editor at the time. The dog died of her injuries within a day.
At time I remember thinking the vet was “cold and uncaring.” Also: Really old, which is funny because he was no doubt younger than I am now. :)
Second time doesn’t really count. I saw the dog hit, called one of my veterinarian friends on the cell. She started fixing the dog while I found the owner.
Owner was an old (even compared to me!) lady who couldn’t afford the care. Vet friend cut a deal, dog’s owner paid a small amount and I picked up the rest. Sweet little dog, sweet little lady, sweet vet pal and her supportive, excellent techs, happy ending.
Everyone was wearing pants.
I think if it happened tonight exactly as you lay it out, I would pay to stabilize, medicate for pain and start looking for the owner next day. No owner? I dunno … even as you laid it out, there are still variables that I would be taking into account in making my decisions.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 15, 2009 @ 7:23 am
Oh, and I’ve seen several cats hit. If I could get to them, they were always dead. Otherwise, uncatchable, they took off.
Question? Do you see many cat HBCs relative to dogs?? Or because of their small size are they more likely to be killed?
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 15, 2009 @ 7:27 am
I would make sure the animal was comfortable & pay for pain meds & the exam…..that would be pretty much what I could afford & not feel guilty for the rest of my life!
I’d try to find the owner(s) & hopefully, they’d pick up where I left off.
I have no doubt I would ask why the vet was not wearing pants! That would certainly throw me. I know the minute I got home, I’d be emailing everyone I know with the story not only about the injured dog but the very strange vet I encountered who wasn’t wearing pants!!!!!! :-)
Comment by Hannie — November 15, 2009 @ 7:53 am
I see a trip to the hospital admins office at Purdue U for Dr. T:
Admin: “Dr. Johnson … would you please explain this thing about the pants? We in the Administration are a bit concerned. The Dean has called. You DO wear them … ah … ALL the time when you’re on campus, right?”
Dr. T: “It’s a joke.”
Admin: “Dr. Johnson, this is Purdue. We are an institution of higher learning. We don’t have a sense of humor. Please make note.”
Dr. T: :::Gulp::: “Yes ma’am.”
Admin: “That is all, Dr. Johnson. Good day.”
Dr. T: “What about puns. Are puns OK?”
Admin: “I said GOOD DAY, Dr. Johnson. I trust we will have no further discussion on this subject. GOOD DAY.”
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 15, 2009 @ 8:00 am
I’m with Lis. I’d see if I could foot the bill enough to get the dog stabilized for a move to my regular vet and then take it from there. That would (hopefully) buy some more time to look for either the owner or a rescue that might be willing to pick up the case.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — November 15, 2009 @ 8:29 am
I agree with Lis & Other Pat. I can’t afford the whole fix [don’t know if Raul can ] & if no owner could be found,maybe put it on youtube & pet sites & hope to get donations to help. I don’t think I could just walk away.
Comment by Leslie K — November 15, 2009 @ 8:52 am
As an added note on stabilization for a move to my regular vet: The additional diagnostics mentioned in Dr. Tony’s post are also going to be less expensive there, and so if the dog CAN be stabilized for the move, that would increase my ability to even CONSIDER footing the bill for any additional treatment (in the event that time was of the essence).
Comment by The OTHER Pat — November 15, 2009 @ 8:59 am
I did this with Animal Control strays from time to time in my years as an AHT. One of the first things I had to decide was “is anyone going to want this dog afterwards?”. If this is a nice, young personable dog, or as in a couple of cases, a dog I wanted to keep myself, then I’d do what was needed, with my employee discount to cushion the bill; then, next day start talking to surgically talented vets who might be willing to trade some technician hours for all or part of the surgery costs. That even meant working for the local boards surgeon prima donna (complete with cursing at staff and throwing instruments) who I would otherwise have preferred to avoid. Needless to say I usually got a great deal from him because he could never keep trained staff very long. Now, in that situation as a client, I’d pay for enough care to try to find the owner, but probably not go for the whole bill unless I was adopting the dog. Another factor due to living in rural Wyoming is that if we don’t recognize the dog as a neighbor’s in our local area, it’s probably been dumped by some idiot who thinks “oh a rancher will take him in”. Our Newfoundland and a colleague’s Heeler (who turned out to be a fully trained stock dog!) both came in as HBC strays.
Comment by Maria Shanley — November 15, 2009 @ 9:00 am
oh God. Talk about the horns of a dilemma.
I like to think that I would get the dog stabilized enough and then go to my own vet, who would likely give me some small discount for being a good client and because the animal is a stray. I could not possibly afford to have the ER do it all. There are times I can’t afford to have the ER do it all for my own dogs. This makes Option B a little more likely, unfortunately.
Dr. Tony, is there a recession going on in this scenario? Because we know that the stop treatment point in ERs has shifted dramatically downward the past couple of years, and the number of people who can afford ER care for strays, no matter how big their heart, has shifted downward too. I suppose what I would do would depend on how much money I happened to have at that point in time, and what kind of connection I had with the dog.
ick.
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — November 15, 2009 @ 9:19 am
I would pay to stabilize him, then try finding his owner.
No owner, then I’d take him to one of the vets I know who would offer a severe discount and who would accept payments from me. If I didn’t have that option, I’d contact a humane society I know who has taken in hard-luck cases before, spent the dough on rehabilitating dogs (and I’m assuming this is an otherwise behaviorally sound dog) and see if they’d take him, medical costs and all. And if that failed, I’d take him to my regular vet, get the rescue discount, work out a deal and get him fixed up in the cheapest way possible.
Comment by Rinalia — November 15, 2009 @ 9:35 am
Admin: “Dr. Johnson … would you please explain this thing about the pants? We in the Administration are a bit concerned. The Dean has called. You DO wear them … ah … ALL the time when you’re on campus, right?”
Gina, I’m not sure why you feel the need to criticize or mock Dr. Tony’s decision to wear a kilt.
Comment by Lis — November 15, 2009 @ 9:49 am
I double dog dare him to wear a UtiliKilt to work.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 15, 2009 @ 10:06 am
Well,I live at least 6 hours from the nearest doggie er, so we’d be at my regular vets. I’d want to know if we could get the dog stabilized and if he’d make it through the night. I’d be checking for an owner who could make the decisions that needed to be made.
Come morning after an evaluation by the orthopedic doc and my vet, we’d decide which way to proceed. If both the vets felt he had a good chance we’d do what needed to be done. They’d give me a good price based on their cost, actually probably a bit less… They’d add the bill to my tab, and I’d keep sending them a check every month, just like I do now.
If the owner showed up I’d hope they’d kick in on the cost, but I didn’t do it for them. I did it for the dog.
As for the no pants thing? Is this is a problem?
Comment by schnauzer — November 15, 2009 @ 10:35 am
This happened to us once. I saw a cat out in the median of the freeway outside of Phoenix. I’m driving; Jerry and my grandmother are in the car and it’s a hot day. I can’t stand it and pull over to the side of the road and Jerry and I leave MamaKate in the car and walk half a mile or so back to get the cat, which has a broken leg. We start walking back with him and the highway patrol pulls over to see why the crazy people are walking on the side of the freeway. After being asked, the guy gives us a ride back to the car, thanks to me pointing out that my grandmother is sitting in the hot sun. Take the cat to a vet, who gives us a discount for everything and puts a pin in the cat’s leg. Cost: $600, which we totally can’t afford, both being unemployed and getting ready to move to California, but luckily we did have a credit card. Named the cat Lucky and he came to Cali with us. He was the best cat ever, but sadly was not lucky for very much longer because he and our other cat were—we think—poisoned by neighbors. Probably that is what would happen again (except, I hope, for the parts about being broke and the cat being poisoned later on). In Dr. Tony’s scenario, I’d probably go with Rinalia’s plan and hope that my vet could help me place the dog if we couldn’t find the owner. Because 4 dogs in an upstairs condo…shudder. And before I triple dog dare Dr. Tony to wear a Utilikilt, I’d want to know how good his legs are. Not everyone is suited to those, you know.
Comment by Kim Thornton — November 15, 2009 @ 11:02 am
I’d def get the dog stabilized and then start looking for the owner, contacting shelters and rescues. I’d try and get some fund raising together through the shelters and rescue lists in case an owner couldn’t be found. The Dal rescue lists are generally pretty good at raising money fast for vet care in situations like this (ime), as I’m sure others are. And I would make sure I had some pics to include with the plea (gotta love cell phone cams!).
Comment by straybaby — November 15, 2009 @ 12:11 pm
I’d go with a version of C. I’d want to get him stabilized at the ER and then move him to my vet, where, with any luck, we could avoid the orthopedic surgeon. (Been there, done that, and there wasn’t even a stinkin’ t-shirt!)
Given that I, as Raul, am reasonably well-off, that would mean (hopefully) that my vet-bills savings account was fully funded, so I would assume responsibility for his vet bills, just like I would for my own dogs. If the owner is found - great! If the owner can reimburse me, great, but not expected. If the owner cannot be found, then I would foster the dog for the rescue group I work with until he’s adopted (assuming that my five dog-friends and I don’t fall in love with him and have to keep him!)
One of my dogs was in a similar situation. My friend found her on the side of the road in rural AR. My friend brought her home, got her treated for every parasite known to man (including mange, but except, thank goodness, heartworms!), got her vaccinated & on heartworm meds. She wanted to foster her, but couldn’t find anyone who’d take her into their program. I contacted my rescue group and they said they’d take her into the program and I said I’d foster her because she was driving my friend’s dogs crazy. She fit in so well with my girls that I adopted her and my friend would not let me reimuburse her for any of the several hundred dollars she’d spent. So, I’d just look at this situation as paying it forward.
Comment by Sherron — November 15, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
Option B. That gets us through the night (or the test week)
I like option A+ (where I take the dog to MY vet and continue on from there…but that’s not very realistic. She’s already swamped, and Raul doesn’t even know her.) He’s wearing red socks. Early holiday shopping planned…
I like off-kilter scenarios, thanks.
Comment by LynnO — November 15, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
I’d go with doing whatever it took to save the dog but preferably with a vet other than the er.
Around these parts, the speciality er vets are extremely expensive. If a rescue group would help defray costs, great.
Comment by VJ — November 15, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
I double dog dare him to wear a UtiliKilt to work.
Gina, it is clear we know too many of the same people, and we now have to work on the mystery of why you’re not planning to be at Boskone in Feb.
I like off-kilter scenarios, thanks.
And now LynnO wants to take the kilt OFF of Dr. Tony! Admin is really going to be ticked! And will Dr. Tony file a sexual harassment complaint?
Comment by Lis — November 15, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
>It is Thursday night, 8 p.m. You are wearing green shoes. Your name is Raul and you like bananas.
Question - Am I wearing any pants?
I agree with Lis, Other Pat, Phyllis, and Rinalia. Although I would probably have the ER keep the dog until my regular vet opened and then move.
I’m lucky in my area I think Animal Control/Services would take over the care and cost for the dog’s needs. So turning it into Animal control would be an option. It’s connected to a no kill Humane Society. And technically per Animal control the dog would be considered to be someone else’s property so they’d prefer people not to take in and fix up stray animals. I’m not sure if that’s what I’d do, but it’s an option.
ps-it looks like this didn’t go through the first time, hopefully it won’t repeat.
Comment by BeckyH — November 15, 2009 @ 4:31 pm
I would get the dog stabilized, then call on my good friend, the shelter vet, who is a very talented surgeon (and who loves ortho BTW, and has had some spectacular successes on a shoestring budget). He would then open the shelter’s O.R., and I would have to assist with the surgery and recover the dog there. When the dog was awake, I would have to take the dog home as a foster, (as I have done many times before) along with his IV fluids, antibiotics, pain meds and dressing supplies for as long as it took to get the dog on the mend. Then if no owner had materialized, I would either take him to the shelter to be placed up for adoption, or adopt him myself.
Comment by Shellie — November 15, 2009 @ 5:58 pm
I think I would go with option C and pay for what’s been done so far and the evaluation to determine the extent of his injuries, and see if the owners turn up in the morning.
Comment by Shalea — November 15, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
C for sure. I think. On the other hand, the dog snoozing behind me on the couch got here because someone chose D. Yes, we reimbursed her when we adopted the dog, but she had no guarantee that anyone would. So there’s that.
A cautionary tale for choice B… in my partner’s practice, homeless (often injured) strays come in almost every day. Most have no ID. In the latter case, the front desk staff offers the “Good Samaritan” discount to the well-meaning person who brings it in.
What those well-meaning people don’t always know is that the “Good Samaritan” deal means the animal will be euthanized, generally sooner than later.
The front desk staff don’t like to go into much detail on this in front kids and clients in the lobby, which I kind of understand. But please take this as a warning: before you leave a homeless, ownerless animal at a vet practice, ASK. If it’s an animal you don’t want to see euthanized, make sure you understand when and why that might happen.
If this makes vets sounds heartless, I’m sorry - it’s not meant to. We’ve got 6 rescues - 2 that were Good Samaritan dropoffs, and two from death row at the local shelter - and most of the other vets and techs at the practice can say the same. But there’s only so many animals vet staffers can take in, especially when there’s no one out there to help pay the bills for services and medications. Employee discounts only go so far.
Comment by LauraL — November 15, 2009 @ 9:14 pm
If the Good Sam who brought in the dog is not financially capable of paying for care, another Good Sam who is capable should be sought. Perhaps the Vet and staff are willing to stay after hours w/out pay to perform the needed treatment for the dog. Maybe a donations jar w/the dog’s photo and story could be placed in the lobby to assist w/expenses - or another type of fundraiser could be held.
My thinking is that, each of us can do *something*. If that thing happens to be saving a stray dog’s life because you work in a veterinary office, so be it. It takes each of us, doing that good thing of which we are capable, to keep the world from spiraling into madness.
Comment by YesBiscuit — November 16, 2009 @ 6:59 am
Ugh I’d go for C probably.
Comment by Sheyna — November 16, 2009 @ 7:49 am
I choose (B)
Comment by Sarah — November 16, 2009 @ 9:31 am
Before I found out that my wife and I are expecting a baby, I might have chose option C. However, I would choose option B and pray that the owner shows up. I wouldn’t feel guilty knowing that I did something.
Comment by Jason Merrihew — November 16, 2009 @ 10:02 am
If it weren’t for the collar I’d be at B, plus paying (or at least offering to pay) for euthanasia.
With the collar I guess I’m at C, but for a value of XXX pretty similar to the first case - no more than 300-400.
You forgot to mention whether Raul is ‘in the market’ for a new dog and whether he thinks this one might be a good match. In that case, I might be persuaded to pay up and chalk it up to karma.
p.s. Utilikilts are expensive! (otherwise, my man would own one)
Comment by puppynerd — November 16, 2009 @ 10:02 am
Ah, the old good-sam conundrum!
The best of all possible worlds is when a pet has a MICROCHIP which can allow for identifying and contacting the last registered owner. Note to all people who have pets-please microchip every one of them! And add “CONTACT MICROCHIP CO.” to your “to-do” list any time you move or change phone numbers or when your emergency contact changes. Finding the rightful owner of the animal makes this dilemma much easier!
Good Samaritans are not obligated to pay for any care; nor is the doctor required to provide anything except “stabilization” or humane euthanasia if the animal cannot be stabilized. So who pays? Good question. There is no one answer, and life-threatening injuries require immediate decisions. Either you pay, or the owner pays (if the owner can be located,) or the veterinarian pays or a staff member at the hospital pays. Sometimes humane societies or charitable organizations will help with cost of treatment or surgery, so if you can afford it and want to help, or might be interested in adopting the animal if its owner cannot be located then go ahead and pay as much as you can afford. Realize the owner is not obligated to pay you back if they do not want to (but it sure is the right thing to do!)
If you can’t afford to help, then thank yourself for doing what you could and walk away, but realize you then give up all rights to know what happens to that animal if you surrender the animal as a good samaritan.
You are still a good person, Raul; even if your zodiac sign causes you to fret about that and your green shoes cause others to worry about your decision-making abilities. You did the right thing; whether or not you could afford to pay. But next time, call in a pro to pick up that dog. A great friend of mine lost his index finger to a Chow when he tried to pick it up after he was hit by the car. Injured animals are very, very dangerous, even if you are very, very experienced!
Comment by Kelly Byam — November 16, 2009 @ 11:02 am
“C”
My heart wants to make the pet better and I’ll rehome.
Comment by Snoopys Friend — November 16, 2009 @ 11:30 am
Great interaction, everybody! Thank you so much - this is just what I hoped would happen. There are some amazing bits of advice and very thoughtful answers to this - I am so glad that this is sparking some debate.
Keep ‘em coming!
Comment by Dr. Tony Johnson — November 16, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
e) Inquire politely if the hospital has any student interns and would they like a nice teaching case, explaining that I would be willing to do after-care at home, and I can only afford to pay x number of dollars.
Comment by Mikey — November 16, 2009 @ 12:55 pm
Financially i’d have to go with (B)
This reminds me of the time we had a good samaritan bring in a DOA bulldog puppy (8 months old). They had been driving and saw the bulldog get hit by the car in front of them- that car kept driving but surrenderer pulled over, snagged a sled out of a nearby yard to put the puppy on and hightailed it to the nearest ER. Unfortunately puppy died on the way, and they were referred to us by the ER when they got there
The lost report for that puppy on craig’s list was heart breaking when we had to call and tell them that we had their poor puppy’s body.
I always imagine this puppy having the time of his life running along the road, with a big bully smile on his face, right up until he was hit.
Comment by Anne — November 16, 2009 @ 3:46 pm
Here’s my scenario:
Raul and BBF(me) huddle in a corner of the waiting room. We live together and between us share 3 dogs of varying ages and health conditions, 3 cats ( ditto) and 2 ferrets. One of our dogs ( Raul pursues dog sports) tore a leg muscle recently running in an ASFA lure meet, and required surgery, laser treatments and ongoing rehab to restore him as he was at the time the top dog in his breed, and we want to be small, select breeders of both conformation and performance dogs in the future. One of the cats has had an on going kidney problem since March 2007 that we are managing well, but requires vigilance. The ferrets, knock on wood, are fine at the moment. As much as I want to help this injured dog, my argument with my beloved Raul is that our personal pets come first. We made a commitment to them for life and we have to abide by it. If doing the Good Sam thing means our pets suffer because our $$$ is finite, then no. We do B or C with posters, fliers, contacting Rescues if the dog has recognizable parentage and that’s that. Cold, maybe, or not. I feel I am obligated to the pets I own. I will do the best I can for that injured stray, but I will not jeopardize my own pets that I am committed to. They come first.
Comment by dkm — November 16, 2009 @ 5:22 pm
Don’t hate Raul for being honest. He was well off 2 years ago and would have picked D and paid for it all. But Dr. Tony is unaware of changes in Raul’s financial situation and the BFF actually paid for the fancy dinner and those green shoes should have been replaced long ago. Today Raul has to pick A and then goes home and cries.
I was thinking Dr. Tony must have spent time in Washington where no pants are too common for the weather. I checked his bio here and he has been in WA!
Great post idea and scenario, Dr. Tony.
Comment by kb — November 17, 2009 @ 3:56 am
There was a case here in March where a local vet took in a lab who had been hit by a car, tried to find the owners, could not and went ahead and treated the dog at her expense. Two days later the family shows up, says they did not authorize treatment and can’t pay, but are willing to pay it out. The vet claims the dog had been abused and refuses to give it back. Lots of press and TV cameras, and bottom line, Vet had to give dog back and they didn’t have to pay anything. Food for thought.
Comment by Nancy Freedman-Smith CPDT — November 19, 2009 @ 5:33 am