What canI do if a vet put my dog down without my permission?
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What canI do if a vet put my dog down without my permission?
Yesterday my dog was attacked by my neighbor’s dog. He got very hurt so I took him to an animal hospital. They said that he would have to be checked out and said that he needed to stay there for about 2 days. Then today I decided to call the hospital to check on my dog and that’s when they told me that they killed my dog. They said that they called me a bunch of times but they didn’t. They only called me once, and it late at night. So they decided not to care for my dog but to kill him without my permission.
Asked on August 17, 2011 Connecticut
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
You first need to set up a face to face meeting with the veterinarian who was taking care of your animal that eventually had it euthanized to discussed what actually happened necessitating the euthanization of your pet, what attempts were made to contact you before this event happened, and what his and other veterinarian's custom and practice is under similar circumstances.
Potentially your animal's condition became so bad that it was suffering terribly that it needed to be euthanized and attempts to contact you before this happened were made, albeit unsuccessfully.
Depending on the answers you receive, you should then meet with another veterinarian in a different office to discuss what the accepted protocol is in the community when an animal owner releases his or her pet to a veterinarian's office and the animal has severe complications warranting thoughts that the animal needs to be put down and contact attempts to its owner where permission to do the euthanization is not received prior to doing the act.
The answer will determine your future course of action.
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