Pets Are Just 'Property,' So Owners Can't Do Much When Vets Harm Them

[douglas9]

Doctors who harm their patients face costly lawsuits and other serious consequences. There is much less accountability for veterinarians, as devastated pet owners in Oregon learned.

BEAVERTON, Ore. — After his dog Bleu sustained a leg injury over the summer, Andres Figueroa brought the 7-month-old dachshund in for a checkup at a sleek suburban clinic outside Portland, Ore., that was decorated with cutouts of cheerful pets.

But in the exam room, the veterinarian said, Bleu tried to nip at him. He snatched the dog by the mouth and torso with such jarring force that Bleu defecated on the table, Mr. Figueroa said, and then lifted him into the air by the snout until he began to lose consciousness.

Distraught, Mr. Figueroa recovered his dog and left. Back in the car, Bleu curled on his lap in a daze, his breathing labored. By the next day, the dog’s lungs were filled with fluid and he had to be put down.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/us/vets-daniel-koller-pets.html

[hlthe2b]

1. As a "mama" to my beloved pets, I am of course upset by the idea that pets are mere property, BUT

as one who has worked for decades to try to get pet health care and services--not to mention pet-friendly housing--for those who can't afford it, so that wealth need not be a necessity to own/adopt a beloved pet, there is more to consider. I've worked with rescues. I've worked with not-for-profits lobbying for fair pet-friendly housing policies and to reverse eldercare policies that require residents to give up (and often destroy) their own beloved pets in order to live there. I've worked with foundations that fund veterinary and general pet care for those who can't afford it.

But, legal changes that equalize loss of pets with loss of children and would allow courts to award those types of monetary damages will raise malpractice premiums to a level that will drive veterinarians--including the best of them--out of business, close not-for-profit animal rescues and shelters and make pet ownership an option only for the most wealthy of us.


As with physicians, the state boards that license veterinarians DO take malpractice and misconduct seriously. That is a guard that must be used. Of course, lawsuits remain both an option even if one is not likely to recoup the monetary damages that many of us believe represent the loss. But, as we take a moment to move from the understandable emotion of the issue, there is a much larger picture and outcome to consider. So, before we reflexively push for regulations/laws/ordinances that change the legal status of our pets, we sure as hell better consider the consequences.



If only the most wealthy and advantaged can afford to own a pet, everyone loses.... including the very animals we seek to save.

[Afromania]

3. Jesus H Christ

[Kaiserguy]

4. That Vet needs to lose his license

and never get it back.