My family's pet rabbit was not just any farm rabbit, she was a part of the family. Biscuit (we know it was a silly name) had free range of the house, was potty trained, and hung out with the dogs as if she was one herself.
On really nice days we would let biscuit out on our deck in an enclosure we made just for her. This enclosure had everything her cage inside had, including protection from predators.
As we got towards the end of a beautiful day and went to bring Biscuit inside, we realized there was something wrong. Biscuit was being eaten alive by maggots. Yes, maggots. (We later found out from our own vet that this could happen within a couple of hours. All from a fly landing on her and laying eggs. All she needed was a wound the size of a pin hole.) We had never noticed any marks on her before, and we were mortified when we picked her up and inspected. The hair on her bottom half was coming off and maggots were all over the skin. We could tell she was dying so my mother, my sister and I rushed her to the emergency vet.
Once we got there we knew there was no saving our rabbit. We just wanted her to be put out of her misery. We went in and there was one other patient in the waiting room. We told the receptionist what happened and that we just wanted our rabbit euthanized. We were told that it would be a while AND that a veterinary technician working was allergic to rabbits...SO SHE MADE US WAIT OUTSIDE THE BUILDING. It is not the technicians fault that she is allergic to rabbits but it is an EMERGENCY ANIMAL CLINIC that treats ALL kinds of animals..there wasn't anyone else on duty that day to help us? There was..but they didn't help.
By that time it was dark and my mother, little sister, and I were sitting outside the clinic on a sidewalk bench holding our dying rabbit in our arms. How hard is it to come outside with a little vaccine so our pet didn't have to die suffering? From previous euthanasia experiences, I know it does not take more than a minute or two.
WE WERE WAITING OUTSIDE FOR 45 MINUTES. We continuously went inside and asked how long it would be, and all answers to do with time never turned out to be true. Eventually it came to the point where our pet died in my mother's arms, on that sidewalk bench in the dark, chilly, summer night. We did not even bother to go in and tell them that their poor actions resulted in our rabbits death..but you bet we called the other clinic that they branched out from to file our complaint.
And another story that relates to another review listed here. My aunts dog's eye came out of its socket due to a dog fight and this emergency clinic refused to treat until they got cash first hand. They would not accept anything but cash from her..my aunt had to leave her dog there and go get cash just so they could start treatment on the dog!
I am sure they have done wonderful things to help save animal's lives but this veterinary clinic needs to change some of their conditions. I understand they worry about treating and people then taking off without payment but instead of helping families get through emergencies they are adding more stress to them.
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