What Would You Do?

[tdierikx]

I suppose in the end it is the VET's decision whether to euth an animal or not... and maybe it's not the vet NURSE's position to give certain advice to the client

T.

[melzawelza]

I'm so sorry you've had to experience this and I don't have much nice to say about your management that will seemingly happily euth normal, healthy dogs. A vet like that certainly wouldn't be getting my business.

I think it would be hard to find any vet who 'happily' euths a pet.

You'd be surprised.

Any vet that accepts a dog for euthanasia in this situation, and chastises a vet nurse for giving other options, is happily euthanising the dog.

They don't have to rescue it themselves, all they have to say is ' we won't euthanase a normal healthy dog, I'm sorry but we won't be accepting the animal'.

[Blackdogs]

Actually it was the vet's decision. He asked me to do it.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I suppose in the end it is the VET's decision whether to euth an animal or not... and maybe it's not the vet NURSE's position to give certain advice to the client

T.

In 2007 I rehomed a Jack Russell to an older retired lady in the next suburb, lovely home. I'd fostered him for a year before rehoming him. He never coped well with vet visits probably because he was a cruelty case. I always had him muzzled.

I rang the new owner's vet to explain it all and also to say that if anything ever happened to the lady in the future, could they please keep my number on file and call me.

I stayed in touch with the lady every now and then and spoke with her about 6 months before the following happened, 2 yrs later.

She got dementia and her family were about to make an appointment to put my former foster dog to sleep so that they could place her in a nursing home. I'm not criticising that at all, she was experiencing a quick progression of the disease.

She made a random call to the rescue group and they alerted me that something wasn't right. I couldn't reach her and managed to track down her rang her son who told me the whole story and that they'd already spoken to the vet who'd agree to put Herbie to sleep.

I rang the vet and yes, he still had my number on his file but said to me "You aren't my customer, they are my customer and I do what my customer wants". The conversation continued and it was clear he couldn't care less about putting a healthy dog down.

I retrieved Herbie who was in great health and he lived with me for another 18 months before I had to put him to sleep.

[BarbedWire]

Some thoughts on this topic:

Dogs attacking small animals.

Many people expect their pet dogs to live in harmony with the whole household even if that is a menagerie. (Often unrealistic I know). They are horrified if one of the household members is killed by another. The guinea pig may have been a child's cherished pet and the child might have witnessed its death. Maybe this dog should not have been put to sleep but steps should have been taken to make sure it doesn't happen again. I recently had a thread here on DOL about a magpie attacking my dog and I was surprised when some dolers almost boasted about their dogs killing swooping magpies. I also have a friend who likes to feed the magpies and one day her small dog killed one of their babies. She was horrified but when I pointed out that she probably feeds her dog chicken she saw it differently.

Vets and euthanasia

Vets need to respect an owner's decision re the fate of a pet but they need to point out that PTS cannot be reversed and make sure the owner understands any alternatives that might be available. For some owners that appointment may not have been an easy one to make and the PTS will haunt them for the rest of their lives. I think it is inappropriate for a vet nurse to voice an opinion and I know personally it would make me angry. It's between the owner and the vet.

Rescues picking up the pieces.

Seeing rescue or the pound as an alternative to PTS is just passing the buck. A dog is an owner's responsibility and personally any dog I own is MY responsibility for the rest of its life. If it developed behavioural problems (not saying that killing a guinea pig is a behavioural problem) and how I choose to deal with that is my decision and my responsibility. I have heard horror stories about dogs being handed in to pounds or rescues and then being rehomed and killing the new owner's or the neighbour's pets.

Of course there are always owners and vets who shouldn't be allowed near animals. Putting down an animal because it wasn't winning in the show ring leaves me speechless. And the vet who kept the dogs for their blood should have been deregistered.

[Malakita]

Put down the owner

I quite like this option.

I have a very high prey girl. Twice I was negligent to putting all the chooks away. So on two separate occasions, I let her out into the yard and the poor chookies were out, she got the one I didn't put away each time. And other time the rat managed to squeeze herself out from under her cage door.

All three times were my fault not my girl's. I am always hyper careful but with the chooks but my brain had a moment.

I know my breed and I blame the owner not the dog. So definitely not the put to sleep. My girl would be dead already no thanks to my stupidity!

[Malakita]

I've been in a similar situation to this...

In my young teens I used to work for a Vet. In came a dog show person with a beautiful young sighthound, her glorious coat fully clipped off. The owner wanted her PTS, the reason ????????????? "she wasn't winning in the ring", yep they were his words. My wonderful Vet tried soooooo hard to talk him out of it, offered to keep her, offered to rehome her etc, it all fell on deaf ears, he wanted her put down, end of story. The worst part of this story was he refused to stay with her while she was put to sleep, he was "too busy". That joy was left to the Vet and myself. We both cried over that total waste of life. She wagged her tail for us right to the end I can still see her gorgeous, sweet face . RIP gorgeous girl.

Sad thing is, this piece of s*#t is still showing dogs, not sighthounds anymore, but another breed. I occasionally see his results, and I cringe, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Even have a few of his dogs being campaigned here in Tassie, and I'm just grateful these dogs won't die the same way...

That is horrifying and beyond unethical. Can you please PM the name of this breeder? And what he breeds now?

[Little Gifts]

Why do so many people think it should be the vets responsibility to rehome, rescue etc? I can understand some would, some could. but really it is not what a vet is there for. They have enough to do without playing rescue. I also understand some would turn the client away because they do not want to euth the dog. At the end of the day the client owns the dog and within the law they can do what they want. We don't have to like it, but it's the truth. It just eats me up that the poor old vets get a bad rap for not rescuing every badly owned pet.

I can't agree with your thinking. It is not a vets responsibility to rehome or rescue but it is a vets responsibility to be an expert and advocate for the animal and present whatever options might be available. If a dog comes in with a severely broken leg the vet could present a couple of options which might include xrays, a cast, surgery to repair, surgery to remove, or euth if after discussion with the owner it becomes clear money and rehabilitation are going to be an issue. It is then up to the owner to decide which option they want to choose. I think vets have an extremely important but difficult job, constantly having to balance medical possibilities with the quality of life for the animal (who unlike people can't speak out and contribute to discussions about their care), expectations of the owners and cost. I don't think most of us expect vets to rescue and rehome but is it really so difficult to present surrendering to a known rescue group as an option for a young dog like this? Several vet clinics I know keep a list of resources like this behind the counter and the task is handed over to reception staff or vet nurses to share with the owner, leaving the vet free to keep consulting.

Blackdogs I'm so sorry you were chastised for advocating other options for this dog. I guess the business values of that particular practice might not match your own, which is a bit soul destroying to discover.

[Pjrt]

Why do so many people think it should be the vets responsibility to rehome, rescue etc? I can understand some would, some could. but really it is not what a vet is there for. They have enough to do without playing rescue. I also understand some would turn the client away because they do not want to euth the dog. At the end of the day the client owns the dog and within the law they can do what they want. We don't have to like it, but it's the truth. It just eats me up that the poor old vets get a bad rap for not rescuing every badly owned pet.

I can't agree with your thinking. It is not a vets responsibility to rehome or rescue but it is a vets responsibility to be an expert and advocate for the animal and present whatever options might be available. If a dog comes in with a severely broken leg the vet could present a couple of options which might include xrays, a cast, surgery to repair, surgery to remove, or euth if after discussion with the owner it becomes clear money and rehabilitation are going to be an issue. It is then up to the owner to decide which option they want to choose. I think vets have an extremely important but difficult job, constantly having to balance medical possibilities with the quality of life for the animal (who unlike people can't speak out and contribute to discussions about their care), expectations of the owners and cost. I don't think most of us expect vets to rescue and rehome but is it really so difficult to present surrendering to a known rescue group as an option for a young dog like this? Several vet clinics I know keep a list of resources like this behind the counter and the task is handed over to reception staff or vet nurses to share with the owner, leaving the vet free to keep consulting.

Blackdogs I'm so sorry you were chastised for advocating other options for this dog. I guess the business values of that particular practice might not match your own, which is a bit soul destroying to discover.

I agree absolutely that the clinic should make the client aware of other/all options. I just get sad for the poor overworked vets when some, seemingly a lot, of people seem to think they should all become charity rescue and save the world from less than desirable ownership decisions by offering to take the dog. I want my vet to have every moment available to medical care of my pets, not be weighed down by chasing up rescue options for owned pets where that is absolutely the owners responsibility. I personally would offer information for other options, and possibly refuse to euth the dog.

[Baileys mum]

Oh dear I hope they never get a terrier!

[VizslaMomma]

Of course it killed the guinea pig...it's a dog! All of my 3 would kill a guinea pig if they could get to one. Only stupid people put the poor guinea pigs in this situation.

Is this an actual scenario? If so I'd like to know the outcome (if possible) Or is it just a hypothetical?

As a vet nurse and dog trainer I have saved many a dog by talking about behaviour, offering training alternatives or surrender for rehoming. In this case the dog was euthanized and a complaint was made against me for making the client feel bad about her decision by talking about/offering these things. I just wondered how others would approach it.

That is appalling.

You were well and truly betrayed.

The VET should have taken the brunt of the issue.