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Very disturbing

Bruce H

Bruce H

Well-known member
I was working outside, getting dogs going, etc. this morning and when I came in about 8:30am there was a message on the machine from about 7:15am. It was from a person not far from here who said her 9 month old tri boy had swallowed a toy last night. She brought it to the vet about 5:30 this morning and the vet said it was obstructing the intestines. The puppy was throwing up and occaisionally crying. The vet told her it was going to cost $1,000 to $2,000 for surgery. She didn't have that kind of money and was hoping we (as Rescue Coordinator for Mn) could pay for the surgery and place the puppy. If not she was going to have it put down in the next hour or so.

I tried calling every 10 minutes or so for the last 1 1/2 hours and have only received a busy signal. I have an uneasy feeling that's not good news. Unfortunately, she is finding out there is more to owning a dog than the initial purchase price.

Please send a prayer that she figured something out.
 
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OMG!! That is really awful!! :xfngr: for the poor young lad, why didn't she take out insurance when she bought him I wonder? I really hope that you can get through to her and that the poor little guy is OK and doesn't get PTS :( :( Keep us posted on this??
 
Oh jeez, Bruce, that kind of blackmail is beyond belief. You just have to remember YOU are not the ones with the responsibility here, SHE is, and hope all works out OK, as you can unfairly tear yourself up for not being able to solve a crisis someone else has created and refused to take responsibility for.

I'd sure want to make sure she signs the puppy over to rescue if you can reach her, the pup is still OK, and are willing to cover costs of this -- that woman shouldn't be allowed to own a dog. :mad:

Fingers crossed the puppy vomits back up whatever it swallowed. :( Or that you can get through.
 
This just really bothers me! $1000-$2000 is nothing compared to what this dog will cost you over it's lifetime. And if it's only 9 months old??!! Karlin is right....this is very unfair.
 
Gosh, having been through a similar situation just 48 hours ago, I really feel bad for her.

I totally understand the cost involved, but doesn't she have a credit card for these kind of emergencies? family members?

I agree, this amount is only the beginning for her and the lifetime of the pet.

It would never have even crossed my mind to call a rescue group...very bold to do so.

Keep us updated!
 
Still a busy signal :(

I'm guessing by now she either figured something out or she had the boy put down. I was thinking about trying again in an hour or two, but probably won't because either way, there won't be anything that I can do.
 
You probably don't know the vets either, from her message. Do you know the general area? Presumably there would be only a few vets around her?
 
I am hoping that the vet will work out a payment plan for her, and let the poor woman go ahead with surgery. Having been in a similar situation myself once (job loss, death of parents, etc.), I know that sometimes things happen beyond our control. I don't know the whole situation with this lady who owns the puppy, but I sure wouldn't condemn her just yet without knowing all the facts.
 
I'll tell you what really gets me about these kinds of storys~

First of all : ANY Credit Card Company will increase your limit in the event of an emergancy like this one, all you have to do is ask.....

Second: If you dont have a credit card, MOST Vets will allow you to come up with some kind of a Payment Plan...Espressially if your established with them...

Third: There is an online place that gives out Emergancy Vet Loans...and Im still searching for that link....I forget how it works now but I had a sitter that needed to use this service for exactly this reason....( Tiny Yorkie that ate stuffing from a stuffed animal...)

If all else fails.....Beg, Plead and Cry to whomever you have too.....But get the dog medical attention....

( Why the heck do people think that becouse they are irresponsible on all levels that its O.K. to put the dog down....Its NOT the dogs fault....Uggghhh....)

This kinda stuff really ticks me off!
 
Perhaps it was the vet who told her she may have to put the puppy down if surgery wasn't done? If this woman called to ask for help, I doubt she really wants to have her beloved puppy put to sleep. I know for a fact that our vets in this area will not work out a payment plan with anybody, even if you have been established with them and have always paid in full every time (I have a couple friends that work for some local vets and heard enough stories to make my blood boil). I am hoping and praying that the vets over there are more easy to work with and more kind-hearted than the vets we have here. Hopefully the vet suggested she could get that emergency pet credit card as well.
 
Wonderful News!!!!

I finally got through to the woman. Her puppy Rocky has had the surgery and is expected to be just fine :w**h**: He swallowed a marble, so it didn't do any internal damage because it was nice and round and smooth.

Like I expected, based on the time she brought him in, he was at the emergency vet; around here the emergency vets are VERY expensive. She waited til her regular vet opened and got him in right away. Her vet did the surgery for $600 and she could afford that.

We talked about her boy Rocky and Cavaliers in general for quite a while, had a very nice chat.
 
OH what a relief!! :xfngr: That Rock has a speedy recovery!! Hope that this lady will turn to you for advice in the future!
 
Hopefully she has learnt about the reponsilities following this scare!

Glad for the puppy's sake that he's doing okay.
 
I am so glad this had a happy ending. People often get all miffy when you tell then that the most inexpensive part of dog ownership is the purchase price of the puppy, but it is so true.
 
I'm just not at all sure why most folks are so hard on the owner here. She could have simply said to hell with it and put the dog down... instead she looked for help. And she didn't ask the rescue to pay for it for HER, she was willing to give the dog up for placement afterward, probably assuming that the adoption fee to the new owner would cover the cost.

If she had put the dog down and word got out, I'd be willing to bet there would have been posts from rescue people wondering why she didn't contact them.

KC
 
As a long-time dog owner, it would never even occur to me to handle one of my dog's medical emergencies that way. I'm thinking that is a lot to dump on someone else - can't imagine doing it and find it a bit shocking.
 
I am so glad this story turned out OK -- but I absolutely and totally agree here wth Cathy. Someone who cannot manage an emergency --which includes making tough decisions sometimes -- should not own a dog or needs to take a decision such as pts themselves, not burden rescue with an 'either you pay and take the dog, or it will have to die." That is the choice she offered and it is shocking as well as insensitive, immature and irresponsible to just try to shift the burden to breed rescue, which never, ever really has the money to cover something like this. If I got a call like this I'd have to say, I cannot cover a cost like that and your dog will have to be pts -- or it would exhaust my ability to rescue any other cavalier for a year. :(. And I would feel ill because *I* had been forced to make a decision that should never have been mine to make and had nothing to do with me; this wasn't a rescue dog, it was someone who only decided to get rid of the dog into rescue when the choice was paying for a health issue (and even worse, a life or death emergency issue; how cold is that). It is hard enough for rescue to deal day in and day out with the sad situations owners leave their dogs in, without having to either cover an owner's bills or knowingly let an animal die for such an irresponsible reason. :mad:

There are other options for payment as people say, including taking out a loan (most banks will do this for a relatively minor amount like $1000-$2000), increase your credit card amount, get insurance, borrow from family -- or make the hard decision to put down the dog because YOU cannot afford to care for it. You don't shift that burden, and the pain of that decision, to some other organisation. To call private individuals at 7:15am on a Saturday because you are in a panic about covering the costs for your own dog is also just off the scale of appropriate behaviour on every level.

Even $1000 is a relatively minor amount in the larger picture of the likely animal health care costs that will arise -- if there are financial problems aleady, then an owner really needs to consider insurance, and whether dog ownership is right for them.

The correct approach in the aftermath is what Bruce has obviously done -- to talk to the person as kindly as possible through what nearly happened and why it cannot ever happen again, and suggest some resources to prevent this happening and indicate what kinds of costs are very likely to arise in future and WILL need to be covered.

But what this woman did was wrong, and appalling.
 
I've read Bruce's two posts on this, and I'm not sure he interpreted the call the way that you apparently have. I still think it's not at all unreasonable for someone to think 'rescue' organizations may be an option, instead of just putting the dog to sleep. The fact that she made the call to begin with indicates a concern for the animal's well being, and based on what was posted, if I was answering the phone, I certainly wouldn't have taken it as someone trying to push an unpleasant decision off on me... rather someone with a dog in trouble who was looking for help... not for her, but for the dog. Whether or not you like it, you don't know anything at all about her circumstances, or what might've changed in her life since she got the dog.

What I read from Bruce was concern for the dog... not condemnation of the owner... which is what I thought 'rescue' was ultimately about.

KC
 
Karlin said:
I am so glad this story turned out OK -- but I absolutely and totally agree here wth Cathy. Someone who cannot manage an emergency --which includes making tough decisions sometimes -- should not own a dog or needs to take a decision such as pts themselves, not burden rescue with an 'either you pay and take the dog, or it will have to die." That is the choice she offered and it is shocking as well as insensitive, immature and irresponsible to just try to shift the burden to breed rescue, which never, ever really has the money to cover something like this. If I got a call like this I'd have to say, I cannot cover a cost like that and your dog will have to be pts -- or it would exhaust my ability to rescue any other cavalier for a year. :(. And I would feel ill because *I* had been forced to make a decision that should never have been mine to make and had nothing to do with me; this wasn't a rescue dog, it was someone who only decided to get rid of the dog into rescue when the choice was paying for a health issue (and even worse, a life or death emergency issue; how cold is that). It is hard enough for rescue to deal day in and day out with the sad situations owners leave their dogs in, without having to either cover an owner's bills or knowingly let an animal die for such an irresponsible reason. :mad:

There are other options for payment as people say, including taking out a loan (most banks will do this for a relatively minor amount like $1000-$2000), increase your credit card amount, get insurance, borrow from family -- or make the hard decision to put down the dog because YOU cannot afford to care for it. You don't shift that burden, and the pain of that decision, to some other organisation. To call private individuals at 7:15am on a Saturday because you are in a panic about covering the costs for your own dog is also just off the scale of appropriate behaviour on every level.

Even $1000 is a relatively minor amount in the larger picture of the likely animal health care costs that will arise -- if there are financial problems aleady, then an owner really needs to consider insurance, and whether dog ownership is right for them.

The correct approach in the aftermath is what Bruce has obviously done -- to talk to the person as kindly as possible through what nearly happened and why it cannot ever happen again, and suggest some resources to prevent this happening and indicate what kinds of costs are very likely to arise in future and WILL need to be covered.

But what this woman did was wrong, and appalling.
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I think the woman was desperate at the time, and was most likely not thinking entirely clearly. Or I could be wrong and this situation showed her true nature. It's impossible to say from the information available and without being able to talk with her personally.

Another thought is that financial circumstances can change drastically and quickly in today's world. What one can afford when one purchases the dog, and what one can afford down the road can be an entirely different matter altogether Re-homing a beloved pet when finances take a downturn would be very difficult to do!

The woman was definitely cheeky with her payment request, and the addition of the choices presented would be upsetting, especially at that early hour in the morning, and from a complete stranger. I don't think such a request would occur to me in that situation. However, everyone reacts differently in an emergency situation.

I think it's a combination of bad timing, bad wording, and bad vetting on top of the whole thing. I think given the circumstance I could forgive this woman and take the chance and try to educate her, as Bruce did.
 
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