I couldn't get any response from my 13 year old dog which had collapsed at the side of my house. Every veterinarian clinic was closed due to it being Saturday and all of the clinincs gave me the same number to call in case of emergency. The number belonged to North Valley Emergency Veterinary Clinic.
My dog is a large breed and my friend (Bob) helped me lift him to the back of my truck. My other friend called the clinic and said that we had an emergency and that we would be there in 5 minutes, that we were leaving right at that moment. I rode in the back with R.D. (my dog) trying to console him. We got to the clinic and parked in the shade close to the door.
My friend Jim went to the door and had to ring a buzzer to get the person at the desk to open the door. Jim knew that a release form had to be signed from putting his cat down earlier that year at a different clinic. He went up to the desk, saw the form and immediately signed it. He asked why the door was locked and they replied that it was for the their safety. The doctor was standing in the secretaries doorway picking at his fingernails and gave Jim a glance and went back to picking at his fingernails. The secretary told Jim that they had to have the money and some forms filled out before they could proceed.
Jim came running outside and said he needed the money. I handed him a wad of cash (close to $900.00) and told him to give them $500 extra just to hurry and come outside. He went back in and as I cried I said "please hurry! Tell them to hurry!" My dog was starting to shake a little and I thought he was going into convulsions again. "Hurry, Hurry" I kept yelling from the back of the truck. Still crying and trying to console my dog, I was petting his head and then I saw him take his last breath of air and then he died. I ask my friend Bob "Is he breathing?" and he looked at me and said he was gone.
Not once did the doctor come outside to even assess the situation. Bob went inside the building to tell Jim it was too late. Jim had just paid the woman at the desk the money, but was able to get it back. Because I was yelling "hurry" the doctor and secretary told Jim "Get her and her dog out of here and don't ever come back".
I didn't know any of this being I was out in the truck the whole time. As I sat there crying over my loss, the secretary came outside to yell at me, telling me to leave and never come back. Jim told me that the doctor never moved a muscle to help until the money had been paid.
I never have been treated so rude by anybody in my whole life. They didn't show any compassion in the slightest. Is money the only thing that matters anymore? Those people should not be allowed to practice medicine in any field.
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