There was an article that came out about a month ago that has been picked up by major newspapers and websites across the nation. It deals with a Veterinarian that was keeping a few dogs for “experimentation” according to the article. That wasn’t necessarily true, but he was keeping them alive AFTER being paid to euthanize them for a family. he was keeping one of the dogs as a blood donor apparently, which in no way condones what he was doing, I’m just explaining that he wasn’t experimenting on them. Now this is where things get tricky.
While 99% of animals that are brought in to be euthanized are sick and or dying, there are plenty of them that are brought in because people are cleaning house. WHAT?!! That’s right, they are no longer wanted at home ( it’s Thanksgiving, the kids are coming, we’re getting new furniture- yes I have heard all of these and worse), and some owners apparently feel it’s better to have them put down (killed in this situation) then be abandoned at a shelter or re-homed. Don’t ask me why as I would never be able to understand that kind of a mind-set. But I digress.
Now in situations such as this, I will tell you that SOME, not all, but SOME veterinarians will do one of the following:
1. Keep it as a pet at their own home
2. Re-home it to someone that will never cross paths with that other person.
Now I’m talking about fairly young to middle aged HEALTHY pets. Just disposable to some. (!!!!!)
But never in my 42 years as a Vet Tech have I ever known a vet that will keep one for a blood donor. And in these rare cases where the pet is kept- many of the clients were asked if that was okay and they were fine with it. So this situation is NOT common (the Texas one) and I don’t want people freaking out about it. NEVER have I known a vet that would keep a sick animal for any reason at all.
First of all YOU are in control of what happens to YOUR pet. If your pet is SICK and there is NO hope of a recovery- then sometimes you just need to let go. BUT, and I emphasize this- YOU are always allowed to be WITH your pet during the procedure. IF they try and take the pet into the back to do this- stop them and go somewhere else.
If it’s too hard on you to be with your pet in their final moments- BRING SOMEONE WITH YOU that CAN handle it. I strongly urge you to do this. DO NOT let others dictate what and where this happens to your pet. Now I might have some vets mad at me but it’s YOUR right and while I KNOW that 99.9% of all vets are ethical and would never NOT put your pet down, You should, at the very least, request to spend a few moments with your pet after the procedure is over. That way YOU know that your beloved pet is out of pain and is indeed gone. No blood donor, no experimentation going on.
I just wanted to give everyone a shout out on this terrible ordeal. Here is the link to the article.
So rest assured that this is very, very rare and that most of us will never meet a vet like this. And I am very happy about that as well!!