Dead Dog....

MASTER...of the bra

(Don't know where this belongs, putting it here.)

So...I'll keep it short...

Dog has sore leg, brought to vet, dog left with vet, vet uses anaesthetic to check leg plus take X-ray. Dog picked up--->groggy and contrary, brought home, dog bleeds from rear end, stomach swells.........dog dies:(.

Opinions?

Shield

Looks like you thought of the first thing I did! Cause of death must be established independently if you are thinking legal things.

MASTER...of the bra wrote: »

(Don't know where this belongs, putting it here.)

So...I'll keep it short...

Dog has sore leg, brought to vet, dog left with vet, vet uses anaesthetic to check leg plus take X-ray. Dog picked up--->groggy and contrary, brought home, dog bleeds from rear end, stomach swells.........dog dies:(.

Opinions?

Peregrinus

Are you asking who is responsible for disposing of a carcass and what regulations control how it can be disposed of, or are you asking whether you can sue the vet?

If the latter, you have three hurdles to cross. First of all, you have to show that the vet was negligent; that he treated this dog in a way that a competent vet would not have done. Secondly, you have to show that the dog died as a result of the vet's negligence. You'll need to consult another vet, and probably have a post mortem, in order to establish what the dog died of, and whether and how it was the consequence of any negligence on the part of the first vet. Thirdly, you'll need to establish that the dog has a value which justifies you going to all this trouble and expense, followed by the trouble and expense of a court case. Was the dog especially valuable? What will it cost you to replace the dog? If your dog was a thoroughbred racehorse, now, with a significant stud value . . .

MASTER...of the bra

Thanks for the replys guys.

Laisurg

That's terrible what happened to your dog i would say it would be quite difficult to take the vet to court, as far as i know most judges and guards don't take cases with animals very seriously, if something was going to get done i would say it would take a while and would empty your wallet a fair bit, to be honest i think you should just go down to the vet and give him an earful, even though it doesn't make it right i would say it was completely accidental.

Shield

Laisurg wrote: »

That's terrible what happened to your dog i would say it would be quite difficult to take the vet to court, as far as i know most judges and guards don't take cases with animals very seriously, if something was going to get done i would say it would take a while and would empty your wallet a fair bit, to be honest i think you should just go down to the vet and give him an earful, even though it doesn't make it right i would say it was completely accidental.

What if this was a very expensive thoroughbred dog? A Bulldog pup can cost thousands and there are others which have a four figure value too!

buggirl

Brought my dog to vet on a wednesday cos i found a little bump on her tummy. On saturday night her stools were black, brought her in sunday morning and was sent home with antibiotics, she took a turn for the worse and i brought her in on monday morning again. She was bleeding from the rear and totally disorientated. Over 5 days she was critical and had 2 blood transfusions, she bled out and died on the 5th day. We paid out for an autopsy but it was inconclusive.
I am not handling it well at all,and now i am tearing apart my garden but cannot find anything that could have caused this.
I totally understand how you feel. . . .crap.

odds_on

MASTER...of the bra wrote: »

(Don't know where this belongs, putting it here.)

So...I'll keep it short...

Dog has sore leg, brought to vet, dog left with vet, vet uses anaesthetic to check leg plus take X-ray. Dog picked up--->groggy and contrary, brought home, dog bleeds from rear end, stomach swells.........dog dies:(.

Opinions?

I would have thought that the vet checked out what the dog was brought to him for - namely a sore leg.

Are you implying that the anaesthetic or X-ray may be the cause of the death. What was the time frame between the dog being brought home and the demise of the dog?

howa .223

how was the dog hurt in the first place?
could it have been internally hurt before the vets?
what age was the dog?

Reloc8

Sorry about your dog.

Ultimately to know where you stand you need to know whether the vet has been professionally negligent. This would require you to procure the opinion of an equally qualified or better yet more expert vet on the matter, who would need at the least to review the papers connected to the treatment and ideally would see and examine the body.

You can't sue for professional negligence successfully without a properly qualified expert willing to testify that your defendant has been negligent (exception : solicitors sometimes).

Anything else is a waste of your time and money - that's just the way it is.

Again - sorry about your dog.

dats_right

Even if, and that is a very big if, some sort of negligence could be established against the vet then the next question one must ask oneself is what loss or damage was suffered in legal terms?

I appreciate that the loss of a pet can be upsetting and even traumatic for a family, but it is very difficult to attribute financial loss due to the death of a pet. In my own view, the cost of any legal proceedings would probably far outweigh the amount recovered in damages and would therefore make any legal action futile.

Having said that if it can be established that the vet failed in his/her professional duties then it may be possible to make a complaint to the professional body that regulates vets, which may result in disciplinary action being taken against the vet.

However before embarking any further with this issues, you really need to establish how the dog died and whether any fault can be attributed to the vet. Based on the information you have furnished it is impossible to know this. For example, you haven't said what the vet said about the xrays? Did the vet tell you what was wrong with your dog before you left the surgery? Did the vet suggest further tests or a course of treatment?