Is it normal for vets to do this?

Scoundrel

Scoundrel

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Had an awful day yesterday - was leading a friends horse down the yard to turn him out and he kind of tripped and as I turned round to look at him he just staggered forward and fell over on his side- started thrashing about so first thought was he was having a fit. Didn't have a clue what to do so rang my vet who refused to come out as his owner wasn't his client.
Is this normal? Surely the horses well being is paramount never mind who's client he is! am I wrong is this normal practise?
Poor boy passed away about 5 minutes later - so vet wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway but I just couldn't believe he was just denied help!
When her vet came she thought he had had a heartattack (he was 25)
Just so sad poor boy at least it was quick.
 
Sorry but I would say yes.

The horse may be paramount but it is a business. If the vet came out then the owner of the horse refused to pay as its not their vet what would happen?? You just phone the vet the horse is registered under. Also the vet couldn't have acted on your say-so anyway as you do not have that authority.

Harsh but that's the way things are now. There are enough bad payers without the vet going looking for them! Also the vet would not know the horse's history and current medication if its not one of theirs.
 
OMG poor boy but like you said at least it was quick RIP
Not sure about the vet but I would not be very happy if I called my vet out to see someone else's horse in an emergency and he refused. :mad:

Hope you friend is ok and not to stressed about the lose of her horse.
 
That is really sad, sorry to hear that.

A couple of years back on a day off work I went to yard, found one of the horses tangled in wire, managed to get her out, her leg was shredded and swolllen, she was sweating and stressed, gawd knows how long she had been there, anyhoo she belonged to a girl who was at college, because she was in a lecture she didn't answer her phone, we both had same vet who I called, told them what had happend, they refused to come without the owners consent, I managed to get the poor mare down to yard to hose her leg while waiting for her owner to ring me so I could tell her to ring vet and consent to them coming.
 
I called the vet for my friends horse, not emergency, she was away at PUK and he pulled a shoe and had a big hole and was being dramatic and basically needed a proper painkiller. She came out no bother.

She spoke to owner on the phone after she'd been but more to set her mind at rest. The practise know us all well mind you and one of the vets keeps her horses on our yard but I would expect them to come if I called about any of the horses. I suspect they would as well. Might help I didn't go through reception mind you and called direct!

Hope you and your friend are doing ok.
 
What would happen if you came across a loose horse on the road who had injured itself, you managed to catch it but it was in urgent need of a vet or had, god forbid, been hit by a car and needed immediate euthanasia? Surely a vet couldn't refuse to attend just because the owner hadn't "given consent" (because you wouldn't know who the owner was).

I certainly know that I would be on the phone to my vet first of all in that scenario before phoning any authorities and would hope if that happened to my horse that any vet would be the one to be contacted first.

On the livery yard that I was stabled at the YM/YO had written consent from all the liveries to contact their vets on their behalf should the need arise.
 
mon said:
could anyone clarify what a vet legally/responsably should do.
Click to expand...

In an emergency situation such as an road traffic accident or another situation where it is unclear/unknown who the owner is, the vet that is rung should attend if possible (i.e. if not with another case at the time).

If there is a known owner, then their own vet should be called first.

For routine calls, the actual owner has to make the appointment booking themselves unless the vets have been made aware of a specific arrangement with another person.

From the RCVS website:http://www.rcvs.org.uk/Templates/In...ndParentNodeID=89717&int1stParentNodeID=89642
"when on duty providing 24-hour emergency cover:

i. not unreasonably refuse to provide first aid and pain relief for any animal of a species treated by the practice during normal working hours

ii. not unreasonably refuse to provide first aid and facilitate the provision of pain relief for all other species until such time as a more appropriate emergency veterinary service accepts responsibility for the animal

iii. not unreasonably refuse to accept responsibility for an animal from a colleague, in order to provide first aid and pain relief for that animal

Clients of another practice may be directed to their own practice, at least in the first instance."

I hope this answers the question.

To the OP, what a tragic situation. Sorry for the loss.

Kind Regards
Imogen
 
I called my vets when a horse in the field next to mine had colic, couldn't contact owner, they came straight out, I did warn the vet that the owner was a bad payer, they said they would deal with that, welfare of the horse was what mattered.
 
5 years ago a horse came in from the field in a very bad state it definatly wasn't colic but we had no idea what and no one could get hold of the owner, we rang the vet and he happily came out, unfortunatly the mare died before he came out but there was no fuss at all about the owner not giving consent, however this was before the sueing culture
 
This is why every livery yard should have a record of every horses registered vet preferably where everyone can find it. When I worked at an equine vets though we would send a vet to an emergency like this and contact the horses own vet as soon as we could.
 
O yeah, should have said. Everyone on our yard uses the same vet. I expect that helps when I phone them on behalf of someone else as they know all the horses and have done for years!
 
I know not horses, but in my dog grooming business, we have cards about every dog that we see. On that card there is a consent which the owner signs that says in the event of an emergency, the groomer is given permission to seek veterinary treatment (and it gives details of who the vet is). A groomer in my shop accidently knicked a dog and she brought the dog and the card to the named vet, and they saw the dog with no problem.

Perhaps in a livery situation this could also be done with a card on each stable door.
 
Earlier this year I found our neighbours cat which had obviously been hit by a car. I couldn't contact them so took it to the nearest vet who I suspected she would be registered with (not the practice I use). I had to say I would pay for any costs before they would look at it, but they did treat her until the owner got in touch. Sadly she was too badly injured and was pts. When our pony was on loan she was kicked and the vet the loanee called was happy to come out and treat initially, but would not x ray until they had my consent, which was a bit frustrating as they were shown the full loan agreement. Unfortunately in this day and age I suspect it is as much to do with litigation as cost .
 
when raff broke his leg, my YO called her vet out instead of mine... it was pretty obvious he'd broken his leg so she rang him before she rang me as it was an emergency. 1) she knew he was more local than my vet. and 2) she knew he had xray machine etc in his car, whereas my vet would have either had to pts or try to transport him to newmarket (which would have resulted in pts).

her vet came straight out. he arrived literally seconds after me, and there was never any question of him not treating raff. in fact, he's now my vet... as i was very impressed with his service.

that was a late night callout, and a huge job (lots of xrays, etc). so i guess i'm very lucky he did attend. i can't imagine any of the vets i've ever had saying 'no' to coming to someone else's horse.

surely in the case of an emergency they are bound by some kind of moral responsibility. like my hubby who's a policeman... he can't drive past a car in a ditch with people stuck in, he has to help them. even though it doesn't state that in his t&cs... and i'm a bowen therapist. i'd never leave someone/a horse in pain because they can't pay... mind you, i'm such a sucker i have something written on my website saying reduced rates for people that can't afford it... :o
 
Not all the horses at our yard use the same vet but our local vet will come out to them if you give the name of the yard owner as she knows them and all bills are sent to her to pass onto the owners as they are on full livery. Strange but it works.

But when I have been left in charge I just have the vets number and have phoned it a few times for other horses and have no problem.
 
Poor you and RIP horse :(

I find that he wouldn't come out a bit off too. Mine came out for a horse that wasn't mine. It was still billed so what have they got to lose? Strange.
 
I have always wondered what would happen if someone found my horse in a state that needed a vet and couldnt get hold of me/didnt know who owned them. I would hope that they would get the vet out, but not sure? Thankfully we're just down the road from a huge riding school so would hope they'd go up there and they know who we are and could contact us. Scary though =S
 
Sounds horrible, I think this is why its really important for each horse to have contact details & details for his vet where people can see it, we have laminated sheets fixed up outside our stables, then in an emergency both the owner & appropriate vet can be contacted. TBH I wouldn't expect a vet other than my own practice to attend unless it was an RTA or similar.
 
My vets have come out and treated horses not registered to them, no problems. Maybe they come out cause I call, and its on same yard as me who is registerd with them.

In my area I know many people who are registerd as multiple vets as some are good for problems / injuries / illnesses but then they use the cheaper ones for vaccinations etc.
 
I run a PR/Training ride (EGB) and had to call out my vet to a horse injured after a fall on the road. They came without hesitiation and infact beat the ambulance we called for the rider.
 
Scoundrel said:
Had an awful day yesterday - was leading a friends horse down the yard to turn him out and he kind of tripped and as I turned round to look at him he just staggered forward and fell over on his side- started thrashing about so first thought was he was having a fit. Didn't have a clue what to do so rang my vet who refused to come out as his owner wasn't his client.
Is this normal? Surely the horses well being is paramount never mind who's client he is! am I wrong is this normal practise?
Poor boy passed away about 5 minutes later - so vet wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway but I just couldn't believe he was just denied help!
When her vet came she thought he had had a heartattack (he was 25)
Just so sad poor boy at least it was quick.
Click to expand...

All livery yards should have written & signed agreements regarding emergency treatment. At my yard it is written in the contract which Vet by choice, with telephone numbers included & a signature from owner giving consent if owners are not available.
Problem solved.
 
Oh I know of a vet in St Paul`s Cray ,Kent...one of her clients dogs was got to her in a state of collapse after her witching hour of 6PM..and she refused to touich it.It died.
 
My yard has the vets details and my permission to call them out at ANY time that they are worried. Obviously I'd like them to contact me first, but if they couldn't or it was an emergency then I just expected that the vet would attend. I'm going to ring them on Monday and let them know that the yard has my permission to call them. I'd hate to be in a meeting or something and the vet refuse to come out!
 
We do have everyones emergency contact numbers -vet farrier etc on file - unfortunately I was on my own and was on my way to the field so no where near the yard. Just couldn't leave him on his own in that state in the middle of the lane - I didn't know what was happening at the time so just rang my vets.
 
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