M R Assoc

This is the most incompetent facility I have ever seen. They triage the animals by who pays the most money the fastest. Not by the seriousness of the case. My dog presented with a twisted stomach and sat in a cage w/o any pain meds, fluids or sedation. All they did was take x-rays, tell me he needed surgery, then didn't do it because they were busy maxing out another person's credit card. When they said they weren't giving anymore money the vet discharged them. Unfortunately I let my dog suffer 3 hrs before I realized what an awful place this is. Every vet I talked to since that night said his chances of survival were great if they did the surgery immediately. I ended up taking him to a new emergency hospital in Westford. By this point he was in shock. But they knew how to handle the situation. The estimate from Acton was $3000-5000. The cost of Westford's treattment was less than $2000. Please do not let your animal suffer. Go anywhere else. Even if you have to go farther. It's better to chance it. more

STAY AWAY FROM THIS UNCARING, HEARTLESS, MONEY GRUBBING, POOR EXCUSE FOR AN ANIMAL HOSPITAL THAT EMPLOYS SCARE TACTICS AND PREYS ON YOUR EMOTIONAL STATE FOR THEIR OWN GOOD AND PROFIT. more

We arrived around 9 pm. We told admitting that our lab had grabbed a big piece of chicken and swallowed it bones and all. He then literally collapsed - and his eyes glazed over."we will ck his heart - $ 45.00, take his blood pressure - $35.00, start iv fluid $100 + oh, lets ck his liver function $65.00" on and on . When the vet came out we repeated what had happened and she said, "do you think he may have been hit by a car?" yes she said that! We did agree to an xray - somewhere in the hundreds of dollars - he was bleeding at both ends and we could tell barely alive. Next, surgery was proposed - about 4 - 5 thousand dollars ("in addition to the $1,500 in diagnostics) We told her we did not have that kind of money -"oh, put it on your credit card!". Our gut told us that he would most likely not make it (which our vet verified the next day when we described what happened, the bleeding,etc). "Oh he is soooo beautiful are you sure??" We asked that he be made pain free and if by some chance he survived the night we would take him to our own vet in the AM. In the next 45 minutes we got 2 calls from AEC - he's still bleeding - are you still sure? I must admit if our economic status was better I would have been tempted to agree to surgery - but we had made it clear that we could not afford exploratory surgery. He passed within the hour - too bad for AEC - they did not get to add another IV fluid bag for another $135. We picked our boy up in the morning - heartbroken. We were charged an additional $150 for 'storage' in their freezer. These folks need a lesson in compassion - I will never forget this dreadful night. Our vet told me that they have taken AEC off of their night time emergency service voice mail for just these reasons. I wish I had called my vet's office first to hear this message and travel instead to Tufts in Grafton, MA or Angel in JP! more

Fortunately the dog was properly diagnosed elsewhere and the surgery was successful, but Animal Emergency Care "likely" missed the presence of an obstruction at the root of the problem. Because there is a possibility, however small, that the obstruction moved between the time that Animal Emergency Care turned up nothing and the time another vet confirmed the obstruction, Animal Emergency Care refuses to make any adjustment for procedures that I believe were substandard. After $3500 dollars and 2.5 days of care, I still had to pay others to repeat the same exams (e.g. ultrasound). These guys were arrogant and stubborn. I will certainly not take a pet there again. Because they are open 24 hours they take advantage of people. If your pets condition is not dire, take him/her to their regular vet during normal business hours. It will certainly be much cheaper and, based on my experience, you will get more competent care. more