The Payson Roundup / Taking advantage of pet owners

Archive for Friday, June 19, 2009

June 19, 2009

Editor:

My 16-year-old male cat developed kidney failure and had to be put to sleep. I called my veterinarian and found out they wanted $135 to put him down, so I called the other small animal vets in the area to find about their fees, one was $90, one was $143 and the other was $168. And one said that I would have to pay for an office call to determine if the cat needed to be put down.

I just wanted to put the little cat out of his misery, so the nice people at the Payson Humane Society put him down for me for $50 (which may also be a lot of money for some folks).

Are the vets in our community taking undue advantage of pet owners? Are these fees extravagant? I just report, you make the call.

Don Castleman

Editor’s note: Veterinarians have to pay for the expenses of operating their business, office space, insurance, help, equipment and related items. The Humane Society is a nonprofit organization run mostly by volunteers and does not have the same type of expenses a veterinarian has to pay for.