The Dog Saga Continues...
Table of Contents:
Part I: The Emergency Vet Ripped Me Off and Made My Dog Worse
Part II: This is the Second Time This Dude's Dog Attacked Another Dog
Harper was recovering nicely in the week after her attack, her wounds were a little oozy but she was good about letting me clean them. Last Friday she had her follow up vet visit, where they removed her stitches and drainage tubes. My new vet informed me that Dr. Hart (of the emergency pet clinic) had overcharged me by $400. Part of that was for xrays that weren't even of the injured part of my dog. Harper didn't need to stay overnight, and leaving her there is likely what caused her recent separation anxiety. She instructed me to leave the drainage tubes in for far too long, resulting in Harper getting another infection. She has to take another week of antibiotics and twice daily I have to clean her wounds with hydrogen peroxide and apply triple antibiotic ointment. The vet also told me they've had to have the police intervene with Dr. Hart in the past.
After a little more research I found out that Dr. Hart has paid $14k in violations to the state board in the last 3 years, and has been on probation several times. She has a known habit of hiring unregistered vet techs. Keep in mind the maximum fine per offense, even if you kill someone's animal, is only $1,000. I am shocked this woman is still able to operate, and so is News Channel 5, because they did an investigation after she burned someone's dog alive.
My new vet was a refreshing change though, very friendly and didn't make me get Harper a bunch of crap she didn't need. She even told me to fill Harper's prescription at Giant Eagle instead of the vet office because it's on their $4 prescription list. My second vet bill was only $38, pretty shocking since I was expecting something in the neighborhood of $300.
Earlier in the week I decided to file a police report. Originally I wasn't going to because I didn't want someone to get in trouble for a seemingly innocent accident. But there are a lot of little kids and other dogs on my street, I would hate to see someone else get hurt. And no matter how well intended this guy was, if he's broke he's not going to pay my vet bills unless someone forces him to. I made sure to note in the report that this was the second incident with the dog, we'd called the police before when it was left out to bark all night.
Monday morning I called to follow up and found out this was not an isolated incident, but in fact the second time this asshole's dog had bit another dog. It happened last year one block away from me! The police ordered him to register his dog as a vicious dog, which means muzzles at all times outside, and $100k in liability insurance. Since he didn't comply and his dog bit mine, they issued a warrant for his arrest. They also said they found some violations with his house and posted a vacate notice on it. Chances are he has skipped town and they don't plan to look very hard for him, but when they do catch up with him he'll go to jail and when he faces charges the judge will likely order restitution. The officer said it couldn't hurt to cover all my bases and also file a civil suit with small claims court.
In subsequent research I found this jerk's landlord may also be liable, (which could depend on the law's interpretation of "adjacent property") because he was employing this guy in exchange for free rent. So I'm now also debating whether or not I should try to get my money from him instead because as a landlord he is required by the state to have insurance covering this type of thing.
I don't know who I want to punch in the face more, the emergency scam artist vet, or this irresponsible fuckwad. First, why would you want to keep a dog like that? Second, if you did, why wouldn't you take every precaution to ensure your dog never bites another dog again, especially if you don't have the money to pay for the vet bills, or care at all about whether or not the police will seize your dog and have it destroyed? I hope his dog bites this guy's face off.
Part I: The Emergency Vet Ripped Me Off and Made My Dog Worse
Part II: This is the Second Time This Dude's Dog Attacked Another Dog
Harper was recovering nicely in the week after her attack, her wounds were a little oozy but she was good about letting me clean them. Last Friday she had her follow up vet visit, where they removed her stitches and drainage tubes. My new vet informed me that Dr. Hart (of the emergency pet clinic) had overcharged me by $400. Part of that was for xrays that weren't even of the injured part of my dog. Harper didn't need to stay overnight, and leaving her there is likely what caused her recent separation anxiety. She instructed me to leave the drainage tubes in for far too long, resulting in Harper getting another infection. She has to take another week of antibiotics and twice daily I have to clean her wounds with hydrogen peroxide and apply triple antibiotic ointment. The vet also told me they've had to have the police intervene with Dr. Hart in the past.
After a little more research I found out that Dr. Hart has paid $14k in violations to the state board in the last 3 years, and has been on probation several times. She has a known habit of hiring unregistered vet techs. Keep in mind the maximum fine per offense, even if you kill someone's animal, is only $1,000. I am shocked this woman is still able to operate, and so is News Channel 5, because they did an investigation after she burned someone's dog alive.
My new vet was a refreshing change though, very friendly and didn't make me get Harper a bunch of crap she didn't need. She even told me to fill Harper's prescription at Giant Eagle instead of the vet office because it's on their $4 prescription list. My second vet bill was only $38, pretty shocking since I was expecting something in the neighborhood of $300.
Earlier in the week I decided to file a police report. Originally I wasn't going to because I didn't want someone to get in trouble for a seemingly innocent accident. But there are a lot of little kids and other dogs on my street, I would hate to see someone else get hurt. And no matter how well intended this guy was, if he's broke he's not going to pay my vet bills unless someone forces him to. I made sure to note in the report that this was the second incident with the dog, we'd called the police before when it was left out to bark all night.
Monday morning I called to follow up and found out this was not an isolated incident, but in fact the second time this asshole's dog had bit another dog. It happened last year one block away from me! The police ordered him to register his dog as a vicious dog, which means muzzles at all times outside, and $100k in liability insurance. Since he didn't comply and his dog bit mine, they issued a warrant for his arrest. They also said they found some violations with his house and posted a vacate notice on it. Chances are he has skipped town and they don't plan to look very hard for him, but when they do catch up with him he'll go to jail and when he faces charges the judge will likely order restitution. The officer said it couldn't hurt to cover all my bases and also file a civil suit with small claims court.
In subsequent research I found this jerk's landlord may also be liable, (which could depend on the law's interpretation of "adjacent property") because he was employing this guy in exchange for free rent. So I'm now also debating whether or not I should try to get my money from him instead because as a landlord he is required by the state to have insurance covering this type of thing.
I don't know who I want to punch in the face more, the emergency scam artist vet, or this irresponsible fuckwad. First, why would you want to keep a dog like that? Second, if you did, why wouldn't you take every precaution to ensure your dog never bites another dog again, especially if you don't have the money to pay for the vet bills, or care at all about whether or not the police will seize your dog and have it destroyed? I hope his dog bites this guy's face off.