Hypothetical Situation... Thoughts?

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168135

The thread that contained the interview question about catering to a sick horse that is owned by someone who owes money to the clinic.

Let's say Iwork in a clinic where I am the only doctor. Personally, I don't agree with things like declawing, ear cropping, and tail docking. Let's say a client comes in requesting one of these services. What I do?

I was thinking about the horse situation... if you deny the horse medical attention because the client owes you money, you could be putting the horse at risk. The client may call another clinic, but the client may also leave the horse to suffer, try to heal the animal themself, which could put the horse at risk, or the client will put the horse down using a method that may not be ethical. Am I right in saying this?

So what would you do in this situation?

If you deny the client service, the client could go to another clinic or the client could go home and attempt the procedure himself... and you wouldn't know it.

If you agree to do the service, you would be going against what you believe in.

Is education an option? "We do not do this procedure because... if you are still interrested, another clinic does the procedure.. we can give them a call if you want."

It just boggled me... I'm not sure how other people feel about these procedures, but I was wondering what you thought about this.

At the clinic that I volunteered at, we had one vet who refused to do tail docking and ear cropping, and I believe she is opposed to declawing as well... so they booked those procedures with the other vets.
 
If you own your own clinic you have the right to not perform those procedures. Granted, you should provide the client with the name of a veterinarian that does provide those services. The vet I work for does not perform ear crops, but does the rest. I know of a number of vets that don't completely support declawing, but they do them anyway (after educating owners) as they could lose a lot of business otherwise. It is up to you personally. These are not life-threatening procedures and you don't have to do them if you don't want to.
 
Just refer them to another clinic. It's better than the client going home and taking a pair of scissors to their dogs ears. ("Surely it can't be THAT hard to just make some cuts.")

You'll lose money, but it would be money you would have lost anyways so you may as well make sure the animal is taken care of by a professional.
 
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