A vet hit my dog!! Is this okay????

[jbee]

We took Berkley in to have her stitches removed at a clinic. Because her vet is out of town ..
The vet was on the last stitch. and Berk turned to nip "toward" the vet. This vet raised a hand in a threatening manner and said NO.
The vet was pulling at the stitch and Berk turned and Nipped toward the vet. The vet raised a hand above Berkley's head and slapped her hard-- coming down her head, nose and mouth.
Vet techs out there>>>>>> is this the protocol when a vet feels threatened .. The vet mentioned a muzzle on this last stitch. But she was being held down by me and the tech.... Berk is strong and wiggled out. I guess the vet was scared.
What if she had responded to this slap with anger...
Speaking of anger. I am still angry.
I plan to speak to my regular vet about this other vet when she gets back.

 

[Eric J]

Normal protocol or not, I dont hit animals, and I sure as hell won't pay someone to "CARE" for my pet and allow them to hit it. I would have gone off on the S.O.B. I can't imagine this is standard operating procedure for all vets. My vet seems to be such a nice guy I can't even imagine him doing such a thing.

If the vet is worried about being bit, I would think he would use a muzzle and not violence.

 

[matilda8255]

I would have freaked out! That is not normal you need to tell your regular vet. I think you should switch vet's anyway I would never go back there again. Reacting to a nipping dog by slaping it in the face is asking to get bit. Violence triggers violence and I am surprised your pup didn't really try to bite the vet after.

You should also report them to every agency under the sun. I would and I'm sure someone here would be more than happy to give you info regarding whom to tell. I think I would stand outside their practice with a big sign telling people who the vet was that hit my dog until they got fired.

 

[jbee]

As far as what my response was. Needless to say ... I was stunned .. speechless. I got her and left.
I am sure many of you would have said something....
But what do you say to a grown, intelligent person about their behavior.. and what would it have solved? Except to inflame the person. I just remember thinking, my vet knows this vet. I will let her know what happened.

 

[myrocky]

OK this person does not need to be a vet IMO If they are going to be scared of getting bit then they are sending those vibes to the animal. I would of been livid if that happened to me and everyone would know about it. If you like your current vet and the practice make sure they know in no uncertain terms that you do not want this other vet handling your animal at all. I would be very upset and might even wright a letter to her superiours.

 

[boxers4life2001]

ABSOLUTLY UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!

All I have to say is this vet is lucky it wasn't my dog he/she slapped or all h*ll would have broken lose!!! I am a vet tech and it angers me more than I can say to hear that a vet slapped an animal. No that is not protocol when you feel threatend or scared. If he was that worried then they should have put a muzzle on her. I can't tell you how many times I have been bitten, scratched and had my butt kicked by a bad/vicious animal and never once has it ever crossed my mind to hit that animal. This is just unacceptable, there is NO EXCUSE for anyone to slap your animal esp. a vet. And the fact that he hit her right in her face is just horrible. If this vet does this in front of the owners i'm afraid to know what he does to them when there in the back away from the owners. Is this vet in the same hosp. as your reg. vet? I would diffently be calling that hospital back and demanding that I speak to that doctor's boss and let them know their doctor hits animals. I'm so sorry you had to experiance that, I am just so mad right now!!!!!!

 

[Eric J]

JBEE,
I was in now way putting you down for your actions. Each one of us reacts differently to the same thing, it is what makes us who we are. I was just posting my thoughts on it. You plan on handling this your way and following through, in my book, that makes you another great BW parent.

 

[Chewy's Mom]

A vet is supposed to know how to handle a scared animal - and that should not include hitting. I would definitely tell your regular vet, and never go back to that hitting vet again. That is unbelievable, and I'm sure my vet would never do that.

 

[rumsgirl]

NO that is not normal protocol. I worked at a vet before and for one the vet techs responsibility is that SHE is the one to hold the dog around the head area to protect the vet, not you. She is trained in holding tecniques so Berkley wouldn't have even gotten his head close to the vet. I would have raised holy H_ _ _.
Nobody hits my dog. Plus after the 1st attempt to nip the vet should have put a muzzle on for safety reasons. I would definitly have a talk with your vet about that vet.

 

[MollyMoose]

I would think that my Vet would be picking his teeth from the floor if he ever laid a hand on Molly. Im so sorry this happened to you! I would switch Vets at this point.