Vets refusing to work on hunting dogs

[LookinforDirt]

There is a thread currently active where folks are talking about injuries to their dogs and how they were injured. I didn’t want to derail the thread so asking separately.

Has anyone had issues with a vet refusing to work on your dogs? I listened to a podcast recently with a mountain lion guide. He said some vets have refused to work on his dogs when they learned it was a lion dog. Said bear dogs get the same reaction from many vets. Vets stance being it is cruel to the dog because of wounds caused by lions or bears. Complete bs of course. Refusing to help a hurt dog is what appears to be cruel.

Anyone run into this issue?

Ep. 79: Mountain Lion Hunting with Hound Dogs

Podcast Episode · Cutting The Distance · 04/04/2024 · 52m

podcasts.apple.com

 

[Jason Snyder]

Nope. My vet actually likes seeing my dogs because he sees very few true working dogs.

 

[Reburn]

Nope. My vet actually likes seeing my dogs because he sees very few true working dogs.

Same. Plus I was a loyal repeat customer.

 

[mike.adams.467]

My vet hunts lions and bears with his own dogs, so I'm good.

 

[KurtR]

Nope they like when I come in .

 

[MNGrouser]

I just have bird dogs so I've never had an issue. My brother in WI runs bear with hounds and I know his group has run into issues with a few local vets refusing service on hounds. Fortunately they have found a good vet who patches up the dogs when needed and appreciates the business.

 

[Woods Sleeper]

My wife is currently in vet school, and what you are saying doesn’t surprise me. Many of her classmates don’t have any experience with working dogs, or commercial animals, so they see these things as cruel. Regardless, it’s pretty ridiculous if a vet would not help an injured animal. It’s like a doctor not treating a person because they don’t like the way the person was injured.

 

[SWOHTR]

Money must be really easy to come by for them to refuse clients like that!

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

I have heard of a vet or two in WI that won’t work on banged up bear hounds. I haven’t ran into it personally but I have a great vet.

As for the ones that don’t work on them I’m not sure if it was more of a I’ll help this time but don’t bring them back or a flat out refusal to help. Again this was second had from people I have hunted with for 15 years and the vets may even be retired but it gets brought up about once a year when a dog gets banged up.

 

[PathFinder]

For anything short of surgery, this is why I learned to do most everything myself. Never tried it but between politics and cost I won't take a hound to the vet where I live.
Back home in central Utah it's the opposite. The local vet works on lots of hounds and is great with them.

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[Boarmaster]

No but I believe there are vets that would take that stance. If encountered one I would just move along to another vet. It’s a stupid stance in my opinion as it doesn't change a thing and only serves as a culture statement. I find life is better for me if I can avoid the woke so thats what I try and do.

 

[displacedtexan]

A lot of urban vets just don't do trauma work... So yeah they wouldn't stitch up your dog that got torn up hunting bears it lions.

But they also would send you to an emergency vet for a pet dog torn up by a coyote or hit by a car.

Plus, why would you drive past country vets with your badly cut up dog to get into town.

It's a non issue really.

 

[Slick8]

I know a few that run hogs with dogs and ensure similar injuries; tusk, being played on and crushed or heat relate issues.

Never heard of a vet not taking one. My cousin has his on speed dial and has gone in the middle of the night.

 

[tdhanses]

My wife is a vet, I can’t imagine any vet she knows turning away a dog because it is a hunting dog.

 

[tdhanses]

A lot of urban vets just don't do trauma work... So yeah they wouldn't stitch up your dog that got torn up hunting bears it lions.

But they also would send you to an emergency vet for a pet dog torn up by a coyote or hit by a car.

Plus, why would you drive past country vets with your badly cut up dog to get into town.

It's a non issue really.

I don’t agree, we live in the city and my wife has had to remove ears, noses, stitch up bad punctures and other items from urban dog fights, dogs can do a number on each other. It does help she is a board certified surgeon so she may take on more than others would.

Maybe some vets just handle basic care and move you along to the ER, we are seeing fewer and fewer ER’s in our area as they just don’t survive.

 

[displacedtexan]

I don’t agree, we live in the city and my wife has had to remove ears, noses, stitch up bad punctures and other items from urban dog fights, dogs can do a number on each other. It does help she is a board certified surgeon so she may take on more than others would.

Maybe some vets just handle basic care and move you along to the ER, we are seeing fewer and fewer ER’s in our area as they just don’t survive.

Amazingly we only have a couple of vet ERs for the size of town and number of in town vets without the setup/qualifications/whatever to do bigger trauma.

I know a number of people who have had their normal vet not do more than a couple of stitches from dogs, sticks etc...

And we all hate the big emergency vet. All they care about is getting paid. I carried a very bloody dog in once in the middle of the night and their first question was about payment.

 

[LookinforDirt]

It is encouraging to hear most are not having to deal with this. Hope that continues.

 

[Amos Keeto]

My Rotweiller is bigger than his vet! LOL!

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Nope, our vet runs her own bird dogs, and likes to share stories and lessons learned.

 

[Beendare]

Many years ago I used to run Dogs for hogs in CA.

I had one dog that got cut badly and my vet at the time in Livermore told me this was the last time he would work on my dogs when they were cut up by wild boars. I can understand his frustration...she was beat up pretty bad.

The dog was named Tiny, she was a little pit bull cross- about 35-40#- sweet as pie...but man she thought she could take on big ole Wild boars single handed- she had the heart of a lion.

What the Vet didn't know....that dog wasn't even mine. It was another guys dog that he was going to put her down as he knew it would be very expensive to save her. I told him I would take her and pay the vet bill. I needed up making a vest for her and retired her after a couple more years.