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My doberman was spayed in error

I could be wrong. But when I read the post under 'introductions' and here I interpreted it to mean that's what the insurance company said the dog was worth. I didn't see where jeffs-princess stated anywhere what they actually purchased her for. The surgery was still a mistake, nonetheless, and shouldn't have happened based on what I read. In my opinion that is the issue at hand; mal practice.

The Hypocratic Oath which all doctors and vets take states: 'First do no harm'. A dog doesn't go in for a rectification for a botched ear job and come out of surgery steril. I'm just calling this the way I personally see it. The ears are no where near the area of a spaying. How incomptent can a vet be to do this?? They wouldn't want me on the jury for this one if it goes to court.


Without knowing the clinic and what happened - it could have been just an accident - maybe the wrong chart was pulled - kennel help brought the wong dog? I have no idea I've never worked for a vet so I don't know how that works.

Not saying it's OK or right - if it were my dog I'd be really pissed especially since she is already spayed that she went through major surgery by mistake
 
There is no margin for error in a situation like this in my opinion. There is a consent for surgery form listing the breed, age, color and type of surgery to be preformed which must be signed by the owner of any animal at any vets office prior to any surgery being done. This form follows the animal all through the day of surgery. What are the odds that two identical dobermans the same age and sex were in that vets office on the same day for two entirely different procedures? There obviously wasn't enough of a mix up for them to bring this doberman out to the reception area and give her back to her rightful owner after the deed was done.

This is the same procedure that human hospitals by law have to follow. How you would feel if this had happened to a human child instead of an animal? I think we (all of us) make so many choices for our animals without them being able to speak for themselves that we sometimes loose sight of the consequences of our actions. Clearly in this instance a travesty was done and this vet deserves to pay dearly for his error. If this was a doctor instead of a vet he would also be subject to peer review of his actions and quite probably be given sanctions. And if it happened repetitively he would loose his license to practice.
 
I know that google is not the answer to all problems, but I tried to find another case that was similar and had no luck.. I found bad jobs, cocky vets that did it on purpose... Male cats that were spayed rather then nuetered and so on, but nothing that states a mistake of records/identity or anything else...

So now Im at a loss...
 
You would probably find out more by contacting the vet licensing agency for the state with the vets name. http://www.aavsb.org/DLR/DLR.aspx there is a drop down list there by state that gives contact info.

I totally agree that it is malpractice and should be reported to the state licensing board.
 
I think in most states the Department of Agriculture is the governing body which regulates vetrinarians. I'm not sure what their policies and procedures are for instances like this. Most people wouldn't know to file a complaint with them. I'n not sure what their record keeping is like in regards to mal practice either compared to state medical boards of review. This probably varies from state to state,too. Here in Michigan I only know of one local case where a vet lost his ability to practice but, get this, it was only because he failed to renew his license and pay the state the annual fee. With all the budget cuts coming down to states from the federal government right now it's hard to say if there is any real regulation or oversight of vets at the present time but it would be worth checking into. I would think they would have to keep track of complaints which come into them. There and the better business bureau. Obviously there is some concern on the part of this vet or he wouldn't have malpractice insurance in place. That's no small consolation in this instance though.

(Sorry for going on about this guys. This just really struck a cord with me.)
 
Not really off topic but related. A local Veterinarian is in hot water and I wish I could remember how many "black" marks they are permitted before they lose their license in MI. I think it's four - I can find out.
Here is what happened: An elderly lady had problems with her 6 year old Dachshund biting. She took the dog to the vet to be put down. The local Veterinarian accepted money and the dog.... then placed the dog in another home. Which was exceedingly stupid considering how small our towns are up here. Wasn't long before the woman found out her dog had been re-homed. One of my girlfriends is a MSP Trooper and was friends of the elderly lady - they called her. She investigated and called the state licensing board. They came up - did an investigation and now the Vet has her first black mark... There is still a possible criminal charge for fraud.
So - in Michigan at least there is a remedy for Veterinarians
 
How sad...
I worked for a vet & I really don't see how this happened. Someone (many someones) wasn't paying attention.
You have surgery prep, animal prep...at some point doesn't someone double check the chart?????????
 
This is so sad, hopefully they will be able to resolve this, just goes to show you, you never know what can happen, I had a bad experience with a vet in the past, and because of the mistake he did to my dog, he now does not practice some things at his office.
 
Can you give us an update? I would say you are able to collect what it would cost for a new breedable dog, future health care from the current one being spayed and loss of "income" from puppies not able to be produced... Most insurance companies will just settle out of court for $10,000 or $20,000 because it is less than the cost of going to court with a lawyer. Let us know how you are doing. Anne
 
I have never seen a breeder guarentee that a dog would be able to produce, or determine how many pups per litter would be born. If a dog has not successfully carried a litter to term, whelped and shown to be a good mother to her pups how do you know she could or would do any of these? Would they count the cost of potential c-sections? Potential mastitis? I know of a female kept back for breeding from a litter who suffered from uterine prolapse on her first heat and had to be fixed. There are a lot of 'could be's' involved.
 
I have never seen a breeder guarentee that a dog would be able to produce, or determine how many pups per litter would be born. If a dog has not successfully carried a litter to term, whelped and shown to be a good mother to her pups how do you know she could or would do any of these? Would they count the cost of potential c-sections? Potential mastitis? I know of a female kept back for breeding from a litter who suffered from uterine prolapse on her first heat and had to be fixed. There are a lot of 'could be's' involved.

We're not talking about a breeder here Silent. I think the point Kimbertalkls was making was that a good attorney could, and most likely would, run with this in court. Whether this would or wouldn't have been the outcome for this dog will now unfortunately never be known. It only goes to the sadistic nature of this case in what was done to this dobe, and the deplorable ethics of this particular vet for allowing it to happen. This wasn't his decision to make without consulting with the OP and gaining her written consent for the procedure in advance. Inexcusable in my opinion.
 
I totally agree that the vet was in error and should somehow be reprimanded for it. We don't know if this was a single error or part of an ongoing problem, that is the scary part.
 

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