I found Rocky, a four year old doberman Pinscher with an injured leg on the side of French Camp Rd. on June 6th, 2011. I drove him straight to Dr. Haggin's Small Animal Clinic in Escalon. At 1:00pm I was called by Dr. Haggin's office informing me that the younger Dr. Haggin wanted to do an X-Ray and the charge would be $80.00. I said ""Go ahead.""Later, at 3:15pm I recieved a call from the ""younger"" Dr. Haggin who stated ""This is an old dog, his leg is moth-eaten, he has cancer, as well as a shattered pelvis, and has just a few months to live. Dr. Haggin recemmended surgery for the pelvis and chemotherapy for the cancer, which would cost at least $2000.00 dollars or he stated the other alternative was to put him down. I was upset but could not afford the chemotherapy so I said to please put the dog down. The ""kind"" doctor said ""ok, I will split the cost of euthanasia with you."" The doctor then put me on the phone with the receptionist who stated ""the charge to put the dog down is $400.00 dollars, but the doctor is only charging you $200.00 dollars, so you owe us $280.00 dollars."" I stated that sounded very high. The receptionist said ""No, the dog weighs 70lbs. and it takes a lot of medication to put him down."" I stated the dog was starved and there was no possible way he weighed 70lbs. The receptionist said, ""Well you can take him to a shelter to be put down and then bury him in your backyard to save money but it's still going to cost you every bit of $200.00 dollars!"" I was stunned in reagrds to what was being said and how rudely it was said. I know about phenobarbital, which is used to put dogs down, and I know it does not cost that much. I went down to the clinic and insisted on speaking with the younger Dr. Haggin. After making me wait an hour he finally agreed to talk with me. Dr. Haggin then insisted that due to the dog's alleged weight of 70lbs. it would cost $200.00 dollars worth of medicine to put him down and that he would ""just be breaking even.""I knew right then that I was being taken advantage of and being lied to. I stated I would no longer be doing business with the doctor as he was taking advantage of me. I stated I would no longer be bringing in my three other dogs who regularly were seen at this clinic for Vet treatment, boarding and grooming. I took Rocky to see Dr. Santos in Turlock. Dr. Santos weighed Rocky- his weight 39 pounds, not 70 pounds! Dr. Haggin had lied to me about Rocky's weight as I had suspected. Dr. Santos kept Rocky overnight and did bloodwork and X-rays.He called me the next day-with the results-ROCKY DID NOT HAVE CANCER! In fact he was a healthy dog with an old leg injury. Rocky also DID NOT HAVE A SHATTERED PELVIS! When I told Dr. Santos about the younger Dr. Haggin stating it would cost $200.00 dollars worth of medication to put Rocky down he shook his head in disbelief. He then took out a vial and said that a $40.00 vial of medicine could put down 10 dogs Rocky's size. It would cost approximately $4.00 worth of medicine to put Rocky down. Dr. Santos also said Rocky is approximately 4 years old-not an old dog as Dr. Haggin had stated. Thank God I did not listen to Dr. Haggin after I realized I was being lied to and taken advantage of. Rocky is doing great now. He gained 20lbs. and now weighs 59lbs. He is walking and running on all four legs, and is a wonderful loving and protective pet. He is very healthy and happy. I cannot believe there are vets out there like the younger Dr. Haggin who will lie and take advantage of someone who has a heart for animals to make money off of a sad situation. I also cannot believe there are vets out there like the young Dr. Haggin that can totally misdiagnose a dog's condition, stating they have cancer and a fractured pelvis when that is totally not the case. VETS LIKE THE YOUNG DOCTOR HAGGIN SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO PRACTICE VETERINARY MEDICINE IN MY OPINION.
more