IntenseDebate - allanbergeriowa

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 0 replies · +2 points

Thanks! Probably I should have picked up on the fact that I'm one of very few posting with a real name and a published telephone number and e-mail address! I'll just dream that means something positive, or at least I'm not a _total_ weenie. :-) Ah the good old days when you had to provide a name and address to write a letter to the (printed) editor's page.

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 0 replies · +18 points

Amen to all of that! I have no gripe with veterinarians who do a good job at less cost than me. I know the Iowa City area best, and there are many excellent veterinarians here who I'm proud to call colleagues. Peace.

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 2 replies · +27 points

:-) Tonight we are slow. Since my most recent emergency went home, no one at all is getting billed for my time at this moment. I guess if I turn off the computer I can lower my electric costs, and the amount I need to charge to keep the lights on, by 20 cents. :-)

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 8 replies · +27 points

You're right that our MARGINAL costs are substantially less than the $1,700, and our marginal costs for supplies (e.g. actual cost per IV bag and antibiotic pill) are substantially less than what we sell those things for. However we also have fixed costs, and staff wages, and equipment to maintain. If we dropped our prices by 15% with no other change in business, we would go bankrupt.

(And yes, there was one doctor and at least one technician staying in the ICU day and night. You may be sure that not more than an hour of attention was given daily to the dog, but despite your certainty I was here, just as I am here at the office right now at 11:30PM with 3 other staff members - and I'm telling you that you are wrong.)

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 0 replies · +13 points

We're taking applications - I know we've had a few calls but we do still have him. And we check out applicants somewhat carefully so I expect it'll be at least a day or two before we place him.

The person to talk to is Amy Chase, one of our technicians. 319-351-4256. I think the adoption fee is $200 - we'll eat the rest of the costs on this one. We place a couple of dozen pets per year that are hit by cars and brought in to us, orphaned kittens, etc. While I don't know our precise fees they are standardized within our hospital. Amy would know exactly!

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 3 replies · +25 points

[This case did come in on a Sunday. That meant an $88.40 visit fee instead of any option for a regular office exam of $40.21 Fortunately or not, all our employees who work on Sundays and late night shifts get paid a premium for the "off hours"; and because we can't count on a full appointment schedule that too makes for higher costs to us and thus higher bills to everyone else.

I started work at 5 PM tonight and I get off at 8 AM. It's been an extremely slow night (only 2 emergencies over the last 5+ hours). I guess we could send our staff home, close our doors, and thereby decrease our costs. Then we wouldn't have to charge nearly as much. But we're not going to shut down - there are enough out there that truly need us to have a full staff in the middle of the night that we think the after hours stuff provides a good service.

Hopefully me posting here doesn't come off as me being defensive: I TOTALLY understand the sticker shock. The people posting here work hard for their money too!]

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 1 reply · +33 points

I really don't want to come off as judgmental - for anyone including the news anchors who summarized briefly. We all know the owner was in a hard situation. What irked me was that the owner could have easily mitigated the costs (sign the dog over to us!) but he chose to just disappear.

We work with owners all the time to try to manage both expectations and costs. Sometimes we can't reconcile the two, but most of the time we can come up with a plan that works.

Ah well...I'm working tonight and a sick dog just arrived. I'll try to check back here later!

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 3 replies · +17 points

Correct this won't break us (the vet). But it is a vicious cycle. Good clients will subsidize the care of this dog, just like the human health care system. :-( We want the best care and the best adoption for this dog too!

15 years ago @ KCRG - Pet Owner Abandons Pup... · 23 replies · +87 points

I am one of the veterinarians at that hospital. (Dr. Jenn Berger on TV is my wife.) The $1,700 cost as presented on TV was misleading. That price absolutely is outrageous for only bloodwork and X-rays! However it also included several days in 24 hour ICU on continuous oxygen therapy, IV fluids, and antibiotics for pneumonia. It also includes two weeks of boarding waiting for the abandonment process to play out.

No we don't want pets on the street suffering. Nor do we want them shot. When we reached the owner on the phone we offered to take the dog as a donation. But he wouldn't sign the dog over to us, nor would he pay the bill to get the dog (which was substantially less at the time before we had two weeks caring for him). He just disappeared. Because legally the dog belonged to the old owner, yet we had to care for him without the his informed consent on treatment risks, that also drove up the costs. So this dog stayed "in jail" waiting for the legal process to play out, and the costs were higher because of the process.

It's sad. (And we're not soliciting donations, just awareness.)

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