Hypothetical question re vet bills

The last time i was at my vets getting Oz weighed a dog had just been rushed in for life saving care after being attacked ..
Now that got me thinking ,if a dog is rushed into a vet for urgent care but the owner has no means to pay ,
Do you think your vet would still save the dog ??

The oath:


This means that, in any apparent conflict of interest, in situations involving animals, the vet should decide in favour of the animal.

I rushed a lab to the vets once after i found it lying by the side of the road having been knocked over, the vet refused to treat the animals till contact was made with the owners because they would not pay for the treatment at the practice.

It was lying on the waiting room floor wrapped in my dog bed from my boot, with me sat next to it, it was in pain and bleeding for 20 minutes.

Very wrong in my eyes, it took ages to make contact with the owners, an old mobile phone number was on the microchip, my hubby has to drive round to their house to inform them. The owners arrived and the dog was pts fearing spinal injuries.

That is awful ..
Was it your normal vets ??

It was my old vets, just the nearest one at the time.

When Zeke got diagnosed with his cancer last year they were rubbish so we changed, thank god!

as BD says they have a 'duty of care' but how far they go depends on the individual vet..some will just administer first aid then transfer to one of the charitys.. others go the whole hog.

I think it does depend on the individual vet, but I am fairly sure my vet would treat without payment if necessary. I know a situation where a very pregnant bitch was unwanted and dumped in the surgery. I was in the surgery at the time and I said I would take her home temporarily until after the pups were sorted. She ended up needing a caesarian. She was then spayed and my friend gave her a permanent home.
My vet did not make any charge for doing all this work.

I'm sure my vet would if it was someone from their practice. Think the'd do immediate treatment anyway. Last time I called them out as my dog was imobile after a stroke, they came out, assessed him & sadly PTS. They then said not to worry they would send a bill in due time. It didn't come for over 3 weeks by which time they had also had him cremated. Know my friend who has been made redundant is paying off the emergency bill for her dog in installments.

that is not unusual exp if already a client.

sorry for your loss

After taking two dog and three cat road traffic victims to my vet I know that they would treat and think money later.

The one that I remember most is the little yorkie that my daughter and I witness literally being run over three times by cars on a busy road.

Positive that it was dead but having a hysterical 11 year old telling me that we couldn't leave it to get squashed into the road, I waved down the traffic while she grabbed it in my coat.

Shockingly it was still breathing so we took it into my vets (this was about 9pm as we were on the way back from dog training) phoning them first to get the vet to the practice.

Not only did he have various injuries from the cars he was also full of fleas and mange, he was a complete mess.

This little dog was not only treated back to full health but rehomed when he was fit and well to one of their other clients.