Some Veterinarian’s are own by big greedy corporations
This is a new problem that has been growing and getting worse and worse. Large big corporations are buying up all the local vet clinics. There are about 6 corporations that are doing this, especially the top 3 of these company’s are very aggressive about buying them up. Now with all these old local vets that were great and been around for a long time, are now owned by big greedy corporations. Some corporations will keep the same logo and name and you wont even know. Some will keep the name and logo, but add in a short aberration of the larger corporate identity. Since these corporations own a large portion in an area, they start to set pricing levels and they were increased and seem like it is a standard price in your area. They also have regular price increases whether they are not justified.
Big Corporations like “Cannine United” put the burden on Veterinarians as well
Lots of local Veterinarians lost in this battle too, when they were trying to do the best as well. Corporations came in and gave offers and promises to that Veterinarian clinic. Better newer high-quality equipment and testing equipment, endless supply of help of money, connections and technology. Some where trying to do the best for their clients and all the animals they have in their care and thought they were making a good choice. But since it’s a deal with an entity that only views profit as number 1, it’s a bad deal. All the Promises didn’t come true and same with the equipment and funding. They corporations now start setting quotas on how many x-rays, bloodwork etc. And now puts pressure on the clinic to upsell, and make the owner pay for services not even needed. They also have quotas for monthly income and the list goes on and on. Now the clinic is bad landlord relationship and a bad deal that they now have to follow a legal contract they signed.
What can we do as “Veterinarian” and how do we find out about this?
The best thing to do is to call and ask if they are owned by big corporations, if so don’t use them. Your money and loss of money will always fix and make changes to bad corporations. Depending on laws and bylaws in your area, you can always check legal records online or the city. When you are picking your veterinarian clinic, you can always call and ask for pricing for standard services and get a baseline on pricing to see how they will charge. All vets are different on pricing unless owned by big corporations. Its best to stay with a local independent clinic if you can. There is lots of news investigations that have done stories on this problem. Here is a link to one of these stories.
What other pitfalls to look out for in picking a Veterinarian?
A good vet clinic will always listen and be able to give you options and guide you in making the problem to start being fixed like Cannine United . Some clinics only see the dog as a physical being to fix and not a emotional pet or care about behaviour issues and problems. As an educated dog trainer, I see this way too much. They say put the dog down or rehome the dog, even though they have knowledge and training about these problems. Physical problems have 100% effect on a dog’s behaviour and reactions. Newer younger vets have more care and knowledge about these problems and not see the dog as a farm animal to be used or just to sell medication to every month and not solve the problem. Ai work with a lot of vets with dogs that have complex problem and need medication because the dog can’t cope with the problem or it’s a new client and the dog is coming off the medications. Just like humans, they have problems and side effects too. Small simple things like your dog eating fast or shaking their head funny, can have drastic effects of behavioural problems. A good clinic will listen to you and take your information seriously.
- 24-hour emergency clinics are usually more expensive, even during weekday hours
- See if you vet clinic has emergency services ability, just in case you need it and don’t have to go to a new emergency vet clinic.
- Make sure they have certified staff preforming their respected duties. Some vets have unqualified staff preforming duties outside their knowledge and skill.
- Have proper handling low stress procedures for checks ups through to recovery after surgery. This may sound common and expected, but its unfortunately it is not.
- Check the BBB for claims and reports, same goes for google reviews and digging through social posts.
- Have safe handling procedure for aggressive and reactive dogs. this means areas for stay and recovery and also entrance and exits etc. even if your dog is not reactive, it could get attacked or less of all be stressed because a dog is having an episode the entire time its there.
