If you live in Maryland, Virginia, or Texas, I have the some recent disciplinary records from the last 2-3 years on my website.

However, it DOES NOT mean your vet doesn’t have a record if you don’t see their name there. It simply means it wasn’t in the last couple of years.

You would want to contact hte board to pull records further back than that.

For Maryland, go here:

http://www.thetooncesproject.c.....yland.html

For Virginia, go here:

http://www.thetooncesproject.c.....ginia.html

(Note this is just 2005-2006; needs to be updated w/2007 but you can also query VA site directly)

For Texas go here:

http://www.thetooncesproject.c.....texas.html

I’d have more states but it’s labor intensive. Someday!

Stefani

Actually, I agree with nearly every thing you said. Unfortunately, I was one of the trusting pet owners that had to learn the hard, and very tragic, way.

You asked:

1)would you please be so kind as to inform us how one “checks the records” of a vet before using them?

Yes, you would contact your State’s Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners and file a public records request, requesting hte disciplinary reccords of all vets you were considering.

A list of state board contact info can be found here:

http://www.jugglingcats.com/ve....._board.htm

If you find that any of those links are out of date, you can also go here:

http://www.aavsb.org/DLR/DLR.aspx

SOME veterinary boards, notably Virginia, make this information pretty easy to find online.
See http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/vet/ and click on Case Decisions.

Others have “license lookup” features that tell you if the vet (or other type of health professional) has had disciplinary action on their license. These sites are NOT very user friendly (I suspect, by design). If you have a hard time with it, feel free to contact me.

Re: “Frankly I doubt we’re going to find a great deal, perhaps if we know exactly what to ask about - which most don’t.”

Right, you are right. Any kind of disciplinary record — except for falling short of continuing education credits or a briefly lapsed license — shoudl be taken seriuosly. The vet boards generally strip the public records of the more damning details, so you really have to read between the lines. That’s why ANY record is a bad record –chances are, it was worse than it sounds.

Re:

“Anyway, the noxious and fatal results of many treatments are systemic and show up over time and the owners do not even know the real cause.”

This is such a good point. This is why I believe we need to pressue the industry not to push the vet RX foods on us, and every new drug that gets promo’d to them at their conferences. It is impossible to get satisfaction seeking justice for a pet that died over a long time from prescribed ingestion of vet RX food or drugs.

Re:
2) I don’t expect vets to be SAINTS - I do expect them not to be MURDERERS.

I actually expect more than that they merely not be murderers. I expect them to be competent and kind. I believe I have a right to that. But I have learned this is not the majority.

3) And I don’t expect to pay someone even one cent for misleading me and harming my pet.

I do agree with you. I think that some of the vets just mindless push the crap that “Hills” and the other big veterinary names market to them. Others TRULY BUY the marketing gimmicks, and believe they are doing something good when the script it out to you. Problem is, they get so defensive and pushy when you say, “No, thanks . .. ” and god forbid you tell them you are feeding raw or home cooked. As for meds, again, I think most vets are just not critically assessing these drugs, OR they truly buy the marketing the pharma’s push. The sinister few probably DO know it’s harmful and don’t care.

4) the time to check things out is WAY before you ever write the check. This means being proactive and reading on alternative sources about the dangers likely to be encountered and the alternatives to exposing your animal to them.

I agree. But why do so many of us have to learn this the hard way?

Because so many just — TRUST, blindly, they TRUST vets. They think the “kindly” vet would never steer them wrong. And that is a myth that dies very hard and painfully.

I agree with you, of course. How do we get the message out and inspire healthy skepticism among pet owners?

Stefani
The Toonces Project
http://www.TheTooncesProject.com
“Is Your Pet Safe at the Vet?”

http://www.jugglingcats.com/ve....._board.htm

This is all linked. Big Pharma/Big Med is BIG BUSINESS. PERIOD.
Read all about the faked research results paid for by big business published in big medical journals - and we’re talking about HUMANS!!! One can only imagine the level of chicanery when it comes to animals.

Now I guess they’re looking for new ways to kill pets - just shoot em up with unnecessary vaccines. What animal told them that it was less painful?

How about just good, healthy food and exercise. That’s what pets really need.

“The top veterinary breakthrough is that some folks have to vomit themselves dry before taking a pet to the vet. That is how much they love their pets and how much they hate the vets. The pet parents do it, because they must , and begrudge every dollar and hate and despise with every vet visit.”

I actually don’t know what you mean by this comment, LOL, whether you think this is a good thing or not.

I have to tell you that I don’t see what you describe. What I see is a bunch of committed pet owners who still imagine halos over the heads of every veterinarian they encounter, and assume without proof that every veterinarian is a) an animal lover, and b) competent.

While some pet owners do complain about costs at the vet (sometimes unfairly and unreasonably), they rarely critically assess the care provided.

In MY book, this is BACKWARDS.

While there are many competent, dedicated and honest vets, there are also waaaayyyyy too many incompetent, lazy, and/or dishonest vets. Not all vets are animal lovers — some just don’t want to deal with the quality standards and liability considerations they would have to face in human medicine. And boy, do they LOVE that halo.

I strongly believe that most pet owners need to be more critical and cynical about veterinary care, and need to take the time to question and evaluate the services provided by the veterinarians they go to. They also need to CHECK THE RECORDS of a vet before placing the care of their pet in his or her hands.

On the other hand, I think they should STOP complaining about costs when they are assured that the care provided is good. If pets are TRULY members of our family, the way we CLAIM they are, THEN quality care is PRICELESS.

Veterinarians aren’t volunteers. Number 1, they shouldn’t be expected to perform services for free or nearly free simply because some pet owner begrudges paying them, thinking “you are supposed to be in it to help animals!” How naiive. They’re in it to make a living, folks.

Veterinarians ALSO aren’t saints. Number, 2, as you are writing that check or handing over that credit card, you have EVERY RIGHT to critically assess and ask questions, make demands, about quality of care. In fact, you have a responsibility to do so.

I don’t see many pet owners doing that — even the ones who CLAIM they love their pets as members of the family. I see them BLINDLY trusting, and holding on to an image of veterinarians as kindly, do-gooder animal lovers, when in fact these people are service providers. Although a sizable percentage of them went into it because of a love of animals, even for those vets, business interests eventually eclipse that as the primary motivator. And, many of them don’t love animals, sorry — it’s just obviously true.

But that’s not the point — the point is — are they competent? Are they kind? Are they conscientious? Do they keep up their professional knowledge? Do they run a tight ship, where procedures are in place to ensure patient safety? Do they hire competent employees and ensure their adherence to standards of care, quality, and safety?

I wish I saw healthy skepticism, but I don’t. I see a bunch of naiive owners failing to assess the quality of care being provided to their pets.

That is, until their pets suffer a tragedy, as mine did. Then and only then do they begin to “get it” that all vets aren’t wearing halos.

Stefani
The Toonces Project
http://www.TheTooncesProject.com
“Is Your Pet Safe at the Vet?”

Definitely agree about the neutraceuticals and probiotics–discovered on my own that when a dog has eaten something he maybe shouldn’t have, and is filling my home with toxic gas fumes, within 20 minutes of being given some acidophilus or bifidus, even the real el cheapo kinds, the gas attack is over!

http://www.pfizerah.com/PAHimages/msds_us/PH.pdf

Our pets are what they eat too. Grains = sugar = tartar. If crunching dry dog food was the answer to better dental health, why is it worsening???? Because it is a myth we have bought into. A vaccine for dental health?? Are we really that brainwashed?? It ain’t rocket science - feed a species appropriate diet. If our pets were not meant to eat meat, their canines would not be there. If they were not meant to crush and eat bones, they wouldn’t have the large molars in their mouths for that purpose. Take a raw food challenge - feed 50% raw food to your pets for 4 weeks and just see what a difference it makes. Educate yourself a little bit on making appropriate choices on what to feed by going to www.urbancarnivore.com An all meat diet is not appropriate, you must include bone. Find a source of ground meat/bone. Your pet will LOVE you for it. Would you like to eat corn flakes 24/7? Not me. I haven’t fed dry kibble to my pets for 14 years. I have a 15+ year old lab cross. She runs and walks an hour a day. Maybe I’m on to something!!!!! It’s not a coincidence either. And her teeth? Some need brushing - they ain pretty, but she’s only been on raw food for 1/2 of her life.

I don’t mean to preach but these are subjects I have devoted my career as an Animal Health Tech to and I feel very passionately about. It has led me to homeopathy as a means to heal without drugs as well.

Prevention is better than cure!

Holly - pet guardian and natural alternative advocate for pets’ and humans’ health care choices.