Comments on: What would you do with an injured stray?

By: Nancy Freedman-Smith CPDT

Nancy Freedman-Smith CPDT — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:33:47 +0000

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.

By: kb

kb — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:56:33 +0000

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.

By: dkm

dkm — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:22:23 +0000

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.

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:46:04 +0000

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.

By: Mikey

Mikey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:55:53 +0000

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.

By: Dr. Tony Johnson

Dr. Tony Johnson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:36:31 +0000

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!

By: Snoopys Friend

Snoopys Friend — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:30:27 +0000

“C”

My heart wants to make the pet better and I’ll rehome.

By: Kelly Byam

Kelly Byam — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:02:37 +0000

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!

By: puppynerd

puppynerd — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:02:17 +0000

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)

By: Jason Merrihew

Jason Merrihew — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:02:03 +0000

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.