Cruel and Unusual

Sometimes as a vet, we see things that make our blood boil. We see things that make us shake our heads in disgust. Sometimes, we just have to shrug our shoulders and walk away. (And thus its no wonder that veterinarians have one of the highest suicide rates of professionals.)
We have people that own animals that have no business doing so. As vets, we try to make people understand our concerns and our passion.
A few weeks ago, I saw one of those cases that make me so very sad. It's not very often that I get upset about a case to the point of tears, get so passionate about a case. Luckily, Joe knows this and to his credit in the very rare event that this happens, he gives me free range to do what I need to.
In this case, what I needed to was adopt a fourth dog. At least temporarily.
Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way.

A few weeks ago, I was finishing up something at the office and was told that there were a handful of emergencies coming in. Could I see some of them? Sure. (Then a horse emergency came in. Of course.)
One of the first emergencies was a chihuahua with a broken leg. She had be accidentally ran over. The owners had previously been written off which wasn't realized till they got there. They were told that they needed to pay the previous balance (less than $100) in addition to whatever the charges were. They were given a rough estimate. When I saw the dog, she was pretty shocky but had an obviously fractured femur. A couple of x-rays told the extent and revealed a broken pelvis. I returned to discuss the dog's options: referral for orthopedic repair of the limb, amputation of the limb or euthanasia.
And I was pretty much shot down. For everything. I had estimates prepared for amputation and even allowed for a cuteness factor discount. (Who says vets are just in it for the money?) Eventually, I convinced them to let me hospitalize the little dog for the night to stabilize her. I hoped that overnight they would see the light and allow me to amputate the leg in the morning rather than their plan: take the dog home.
Then there was a money issue. (Did I mention that they had been written off for non-payment before?)
So the sweet little dog spent the night at the clinic. In the morning, the owners came and took the dog AMA (against medical advice). They thought it was cruel to amputate the dog's leg. I told them point blank that I thought it was cruel to take the dog home with a broken leg.
I even suggested that they could surrender the dog to me. (If money was an issue, that way she could have the leg amputated and then find a good home. Also to wear little pink tutus!)

Luckily, the dog found her way to another clinic and had her leg amputated. I'm glad it got done for her. But it still makes me mad that these people even considered taking that dog home with a broken bone. (That being said, today we had a dog come in for an x ray. They only wanted an x ray but we told them they had to have an exam since it had been four years!! The dog was holding up its leg and an X-ray showed a broken leg and pelvis. The big problem with this? The dog was ran over a week or two ago and the own didn't think that him holding up the leg was an issue until now. They got essentially the same speech and the receptionist had to beg them to take pain medicine home for the poor old dog.)