I was at an animal welfare meeting which was attended by veterinarians, shelter employees, rescue volunteers, as well as law enforcement personnel. The meeting was very educational, and also allowed people to ask questions regarding laws about which they needed more clarification.
Of course the topic turned to puppy mills. One of the topics discussed was the fact that licensed commercial breeders are required to have a veterinarian to "sign on" as the veterinarian for that breeder.
One veterinarian asked a question. " If we sign on as the veterinarian for a facility, does that make us legally responsible for what happens in that facility." The answer from our speaker was a simple no.
It was not just the answer that disturbed me. It was the fact that the question was asked. If you sign on to a facility, you are not just signing a paper. You, as an animal care professional, are attesting to the fact that the care in that facility meets your own animal care standards, which hopefully are not limited to the legal requirements. Veterinarians deal on a daily basis with the progeny of the dogs bred within these facilities, and small animal veterinarians make the majority of their income caring for the dogs who are now part of a human family, but once were the offspring of those puppy mill dogs that reside in cages for their lifetime. If veterinarians agree to sign on the dotted line, should they not be obligated to attest to the care of the animals residing within these facilities? Are the legal standards ALL they should consider when (and if) they do tour these facilities and decide to sign on th dotted line?
My answer to the original question is a bit more complicated.
"No, sir, you are not legally responsible if their standards are not kept within legal requirements. However, you are ethically responsible to sign on ONLY IF you know for a fact that their facilities meet legal requirements and your own ethical and medical expectations of how the dogs (parents of the patients for which you care and from whom you make a living) should be kept for their lifetime."
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Become a fan of our Veterinary Rescuer Blog page on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Veterinary-Rescuer-Blog/133173784037 .
You are invited to share a link of the blog http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.
If you would like to receive this blog into your email inbox each time it is published, go to http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ , and enter your name into the subscribe box on the upper right side of the page. The blog will send you a confirmation email. Reply as instructed in the email to confirm your subscription. This is a required step. You will then receive the blog as it is published. You will not get junk mail as a result of subscribing!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Last One is A Zinger!
Eating supper, Connor turns and asks, "What is this?" I respond, "Kielbasa". "Killbasa?" He hesitates. "Does it kill people?"
We stop at Casey's to pick up a quick sandwich. Connor chooses a ham and cheese sub. When he unwraps the sandwich, he sees swiss cheese complete with holes. "Mom! It has real mouse cheese!" When I buy him swiss cheese from the store to impress him, he sees it in the fridge, and remarks, "Mom, we have real mouse cheese?!" I respond, "Yes". He looks at it, and finishes with, "That's gross."
A young girl who assists in Connor's classroom sees me at the grocery store. She says, "Connor is so cute! Today we watched a Garfield movie, but Garfield wasn't feeling well. So the Vet comes to see Garfield and feels his tummy. When he does, Garfield groans in discomfort. Connor says, "My Mommy would NEVER do that to a cat!"
We went to a chinese buffet. Connor insists on loading his own plate. I give him the plate and just follow him around. He sees what looks like long slender chicken legs and starts piling them on the plate. I look up because I had never noticed this item at this restaurant before, and start laughing when I see a sign that says, "Frog legs". Connor asks why I am laughing as he continues to pile them onto his plate. Laughing, I state, "Those are frog legs". He screams loudly, "EEEEEWWWW", tilts his plate back, as about a dozen legs slide quickly off the plate into the container from which they came.
Same chinese buffet, but years earlier. A tiny 3 or 4 year old Miranda and I are headed to the rest room to wash our hands. At the table in the back are two women speaking in what I can only assume is Chinese. Miranda stops dead in her tracks, flails her arms dramatically and pronounces, "Mommy, What ARE they talking about?"
Last night, 7 year old Miranda asked Daddy, "Is Santa Real?" Before Daddy can respond, Connor belts out, "Of course he's real! He's not a toy!"
I hope I made you smile!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!!!
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If you would like to receive this blog into your email inbox each time it is published, go to http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ , and enter your name into the subscribe box on the upper right side of the page. The blog will send you a confirmation email. Reply as instructed in the email to confirm your subscription. This is a required step. You will then receive the blog as it is published. You will not get junk mail as a result of subscribing!
We stop at Casey's to pick up a quick sandwich. Connor chooses a ham and cheese sub. When he unwraps the sandwich, he sees swiss cheese complete with holes. "Mom! It has real mouse cheese!" When I buy him swiss cheese from the store to impress him, he sees it in the fridge, and remarks, "Mom, we have real mouse cheese?!" I respond, "Yes". He looks at it, and finishes with, "That's gross."
A young girl who assists in Connor's classroom sees me at the grocery store. She says, "Connor is so cute! Today we watched a Garfield movie, but Garfield wasn't feeling well. So the Vet comes to see Garfield and feels his tummy. When he does, Garfield groans in discomfort. Connor says, "My Mommy would NEVER do that to a cat!"
We went to a chinese buffet. Connor insists on loading his own plate. I give him the plate and just follow him around. He sees what looks like long slender chicken legs and starts piling them on the plate. I look up because I had never noticed this item at this restaurant before, and start laughing when I see a sign that says, "Frog legs". Connor asks why I am laughing as he continues to pile them onto his plate. Laughing, I state, "Those are frog legs". He screams loudly, "EEEEEWWWW", tilts his plate back, as about a dozen legs slide quickly off the plate into the container from which they came.
Same chinese buffet, but years earlier. A tiny 3 or 4 year old Miranda and I are headed to the rest room to wash our hands. At the table in the back are two women speaking in what I can only assume is Chinese. Miranda stops dead in her tracks, flails her arms dramatically and pronounces, "Mommy, What ARE they talking about?"
Last night, 7 year old Miranda asked Daddy, "Is Santa Real?" Before Daddy can respond, Connor belts out, "Of course he's real! He's not a toy!"
I hope I made you smile!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!!!
Become a fan of our Veterinary Rescuer Blog page on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Veterinary-Rescuer-Blog/133173784037 .
You are invited to share a link of the blog http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.
If you would like to receive this blog into your email inbox each time it is published, go to http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ , and enter your name into the subscribe box on the upper right side of the page. The blog will send you a confirmation email. Reply as instructed in the email to confirm your subscription. This is a required step. You will then receive the blog as it is published. You will not get junk mail as a result of subscribing!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
No Room At The Inn?
Meet Mario!
Mario is an extremely personable kitten. He was found by one of our foster volunteers. She scooped him up and asked if we would take him into our adoption program. We immediately said yes, but found we needed to tend to an injured foot.
After examining him, we discovered that this was not a minor injury on his foot. It was a fracture. His rear foot was somehow broken and in need of stabilization. Fortunately for him, kittens grow quickly and as a result, the bones usually heal pretty well as long as they are relatively stable. Also fortunate is the fact that the weather quickly got cold after we took him in, and with his young age and his injury, I am certain he would not have survived the following weeks outside, unless there was a very attentive mother cat caring for him. No such mother was in the immediate vicinity when he was discovered.
He is healing very well. His leg is so tiny, I crafted a splint out of a tongue depressor, padded it with gauze, and wrapped it in tape.
For a local Christmas event, we brought Mario to meet and greet the public. He loved every minute of the attention he received! We decorated his splint to resemble a tiny candy cane. Had we done this sooner, we could have named him "Striper".
This leads me to one of the biggest struggles we have amongst the employees and myself at my clinic in regards to strays and owner surrenders.
Animal Shelters usually charge intake fees when they agree to take an animal into their group. The fees are often minimal. We set our relinquishing fee at $35 which we believe is reasonable considering we are helping to ensure the safety of the pet that the people are leaving behind and providing it with necessary housing and veterinary care for the duration of its stay.
The biggest VIOLATOR of this rule is ME. I guess it is a good thing I am the boss, but I may have to fire myself!
We do have those people who give above and beyond our "relinquishing fee" and I thank goodness we have them. But this blog is not about them.
Owners of the pets needing to come into our rehoming service sometimes claim to have no money, despite the fresh pack of cigarettes in their pocket and the car they left running in the parking lot that is burning gas as they spend time arguing with my staff. I want to believe these people are telling the truth. Times are hard for many right now, but I also know that in many situations, the animal is not considered a mandatory expense, especially in an emergency, despite the fact that our fee helps to ensure their pet's health and safety.
When it is a concerned citizen who found a stray or dumped animal, I am blissfully thankful to them for stopping to assist an animal in need. More often than you would think, the concerned citizen refuses to help us finance the care of the animal since they found it and it was not their animal. Sometimes these concerned citizens promise to come back later that day with the fee, but rarely do they actually make the trip back. I understand that if you found an animal, you may feel that the fee for the animal's care is not your "responsibility". But I have some news for you. When you pick up an animal in need, the responsibility for that animal immediately becomes yours. The next decision you make should ensure that animal's safety. Whether you keep the animal, rehome it, or bring it to a shelter or rescue group, you are now the responsible party. If you put the animal back into harms way, it is you who are responsible for what happens to that animal. But many people will argue that point. I fear that these sometimes heated discussions with our concerned citizens may deter them from helping the next animal in need.
A black and white rule is great for a staff to follow, but I have been in this world too long to believe that anything is black and white. The bottom line for most businesses is the bottom dollar. When I try to make finances a priority, not necessarily just for profit but to ensure that I can keep the clinic running and pay the staff to continue their efforts, I find myself being the one staring into the eyes of a dog or cat and telling the owner we cannot take the animal into our adoption program. As they walk out the door, I find myself wondering what is going to happen to the animal after they leave my clinic. I find myself wondering if that animal will be found abandoned in a field after wandering for three days. I find myself wondering if just one more animal in our care really would have hurt.
It is never easy to say no when someone asks for help with an animal. Saying no invokes a feeling of guilt and sorrow because animal rescuers really do want to help them all. If it is simply due to lack of room for the animal, I can only take those animals for whom I have room. When it comes to potentially having room, but having a person who is unwilling to assist us in our efforts, and follow our guidelines, it is extremely difficult emotionally to say no to that animal. The only one that will suffer as a result of a "rule" is the animal. Oddly, I am certain that if you were able to ask a dog for its last toy or kibble to assist its owner in need, the dog would give it without question.
I sometimes forget that I have expenses. These expenses need to be paid in order for us to continue our work. I have an eight year education, a building, and medical equipment to pay for, and a staff that deserves to make more money than they do currently. I will always find it difficult in both the rescue business and in the veterinary business to say no when an animal needs my assistance but the humans cannot or will not pay my fees. I guess that is why I do what I do with the low cost spay and neuter programs, and our rescue work. But I am sometimes haunted by the eyes of those I could not help.
When I look at Mario, I see a pair of eyes we could help. And I am thankful for those.
But "no", is never easy.
Mario is an extremely personable kitten. He was found by one of our foster volunteers. She scooped him up and asked if we would take him into our adoption program. We immediately said yes, but found we needed to tend to an injured foot.
After examining him, we discovered that this was not a minor injury on his foot. It was a fracture. His rear foot was somehow broken and in need of stabilization. Fortunately for him, kittens grow quickly and as a result, the bones usually heal pretty well as long as they are relatively stable. Also fortunate is the fact that the weather quickly got cold after we took him in, and with his young age and his injury, I am certain he would not have survived the following weeks outside, unless there was a very attentive mother cat caring for him. No such mother was in the immediate vicinity when he was discovered.
He is healing very well. His leg is so tiny, I crafted a splint out of a tongue depressor, padded it with gauze, and wrapped it in tape.
For a local Christmas event, we brought Mario to meet and greet the public. He loved every minute of the attention he received! We decorated his splint to resemble a tiny candy cane. Had we done this sooner, we could have named him "Striper".
Mario is still looking for a loving home. Click here to learn more.
This leads me to one of the biggest struggles we have amongst the employees and myself at my clinic in regards to strays and owner surrenders.
Animal Shelters usually charge intake fees when they agree to take an animal into their group. The fees are often minimal. We set our relinquishing fee at $35 which we believe is reasonable considering we are helping to ensure the safety of the pet that the people are leaving behind and providing it with necessary housing and veterinary care for the duration of its stay.
The biggest VIOLATOR of this rule is ME. I guess it is a good thing I am the boss, but I may have to fire myself!
We do have those people who give above and beyond our "relinquishing fee" and I thank goodness we have them. But this blog is not about them.
Owners of the pets needing to come into our rehoming service sometimes claim to have no money, despite the fresh pack of cigarettes in their pocket and the car they left running in the parking lot that is burning gas as they spend time arguing with my staff. I want to believe these people are telling the truth. Times are hard for many right now, but I also know that in many situations, the animal is not considered a mandatory expense, especially in an emergency, despite the fact that our fee helps to ensure their pet's health and safety.
When it is a concerned citizen who found a stray or dumped animal, I am blissfully thankful to them for stopping to assist an animal in need. More often than you would think, the concerned citizen refuses to help us finance the care of the animal since they found it and it was not their animal. Sometimes these concerned citizens promise to come back later that day with the fee, but rarely do they actually make the trip back. I understand that if you found an animal, you may feel that the fee for the animal's care is not your "responsibility". But I have some news for you. When you pick up an animal in need, the responsibility for that animal immediately becomes yours. The next decision you make should ensure that animal's safety. Whether you keep the animal, rehome it, or bring it to a shelter or rescue group, you are now the responsible party. If you put the animal back into harms way, it is you who are responsible for what happens to that animal. But many people will argue that point. I fear that these sometimes heated discussions with our concerned citizens may deter them from helping the next animal in need.
A black and white rule is great for a staff to follow, but I have been in this world too long to believe that anything is black and white. The bottom line for most businesses is the bottom dollar. When I try to make finances a priority, not necessarily just for profit but to ensure that I can keep the clinic running and pay the staff to continue their efforts, I find myself being the one staring into the eyes of a dog or cat and telling the owner we cannot take the animal into our adoption program. As they walk out the door, I find myself wondering what is going to happen to the animal after they leave my clinic. I find myself wondering if that animal will be found abandoned in a field after wandering for three days. I find myself wondering if just one more animal in our care really would have hurt.
It is never easy to say no when someone asks for help with an animal. Saying no invokes a feeling of guilt and sorrow because animal rescuers really do want to help them all. If it is simply due to lack of room for the animal, I can only take those animals for whom I have room. When it comes to potentially having room, but having a person who is unwilling to assist us in our efforts, and follow our guidelines, it is extremely difficult emotionally to say no to that animal. The only one that will suffer as a result of a "rule" is the animal. Oddly, I am certain that if you were able to ask a dog for its last toy or kibble to assist its owner in need, the dog would give it without question.
I sometimes forget that I have expenses. These expenses need to be paid in order for us to continue our work. I have an eight year education, a building, and medical equipment to pay for, and a staff that deserves to make more money than they do currently. I will always find it difficult in both the rescue business and in the veterinary business to say no when an animal needs my assistance but the humans cannot or will not pay my fees. I guess that is why I do what I do with the low cost spay and neuter programs, and our rescue work. But I am sometimes haunted by the eyes of those I could not help.
When I look at Mario, I see a pair of eyes we could help. And I am thankful for those.
But "no", is never easy.
Become a fan of our Veterinary Rescuer Blog page on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Veterinary-Rescuer-Blog/133173784037 .
You are invited to share a link of the blog http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.
If you would like to receive this blog into your email inbox each time it is published, go to http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ , and enter your name into the subscribe box on the upper right side of the page. The blog will send you a confirmation email. Reply as instructed in the email to confirm your subscription. This is a required step. You will then receive the blog as it is published. You will not get junk mail as a result of subscribing!
You are invited to share a link of the blog http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.
If you would like to receive this blog into your email inbox each time it is published, go to http://www.vetrescue.blogspot.com/ , and enter your name into the subscribe box on the upper right side of the page. The blog will send you a confirmation email. Reply as instructed in the email to confirm your subscription. This is a required step. You will then receive the blog as it is published. You will not get junk mail as a result of subscribing!
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