Jacksonville, FL vet threatens to "dispose" of familly pet if bill not paid

[Crazy Dave]

Animal Hospital Gets Money, Returns Pet

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- A First Coast woman has her dog back after it was held by her veterinarian's office because she had not paid her bill

The Ark Animal Hospital returned "Sprite" to Dawn Surrency and her children Saturday morning after she brought a Humane Society credit card to them to pay for the care. The animal hospital refused to accept the credit card. The Humane Society brought over cash to pay for treatment and boarding.

The office refused to let her make payments on her bill because it is not office policy. Then the clinic threatened to 'dispose' of her family pet.

She says she also tried to pay with a pet health insurance card, but they did not accept that card. Eventually, the vet bill reached $817 because it charged Surrency for boarding the pet. They also told her that if she didn't pay, the office would send an abandonment letter, and 10 days after that the office would "dispose" of the dog.

See full article at:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/news-article.aspx?storyid=144485

And if you'd like to give the vet a review:
http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Ark.Animal.Hospital.904-886-2751

[Crazy Dave]

1. Wow! You all were pretty silent about this one

:shrug:

[BlueJazz]

2. Jacksonville ??.. I'm not one bit surprised. These are the same people who elected..

.."Tilly Fowler" ...a Woman who makes Sara Palin look like Alberta Einstein.

Totally infested with Ignorant Southern Right-Wing Hicks.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Actually parts of Jacksonville are rather nice...you'd be surprised.

But then again, it's a lot more fun to broad brush.

[BlueJazz]

20. I lived there for 8 years and since I've moved (Sold House).. I've never...

,,,seen a more ignorant, redneck, uneducated town.

True, Parts of Jax are/were nice. I lived toward the beach (fulton road) and the people were nice and smart.
Unfortunately...the other 88% of the place is disgusting....and I had to deal with them on a day by day basis... :)

[Shell Beau]

9. It could just be "right wing hicks". What does them being southern

have to do with it? Does that make them worse hicks?

[sasquatch]

15. You will join us whether you like it or not and shun your southern heritage

:P

[BlueJazz]

21. No..it doesn't. Northern Right-Wing Hicks don't have Green Teeth....

...and didn't meet their "significent other" at a Tractor Pull...

[Shell Beau]

24. I don't know anyone with green teeth.

Brown teeth OTOH...

[BlueJazz]

26. I'm just kidding about the whole thing...sort-of....The one thing I have noticed..

...in my travels (was in a road Band for 12 years)..is southern rednecks tend to be somewhat "Mean" where-as northern hicks tend to be ...umm.. rather nice.

[Danger Mouse]

3. That's beyond awful. It's a total outrage.

:grr: Imagine if they tried to do this to a person? The uproar would be incredible!

[rcrush]

19. I doubt it

Nursing homes threaten to 'dispose' of people who cant pay. No one cares.

[ccharles000]

4. disgusting

[LoveMyCali]

5. I would probably end up in jail

I'm really not a violent person but that might just make me set the vets car on fire or something.

[flvegan]

6. Pets are property, as wrong as that may be.

The vet office was certainly shitty about the whole thing, but not outside their rights.

Just something for folks to maybe think about.

[Crazy Dave]

8. I guess they had the right to do that

But there are animal rights and people probably aren't allowed by law to dispose of their own pets. There's got to be some kind of veterinarian board of ethics issues too but who knows.

I heard Michael Vick just found himself a new veterinarian.

[joeybee12]

12. No ethical vet would have done this...not one...

...if this woman was a previous customer and had always paid, why didn't they work with her. And as for charging over $400...again, any ethical vet would have contacted the owner and explained what the costs would be...this POS needs to be run out of business.

[flvegan]

14. I certainly agree, especially considering the amount

and that there was nothing dire about the dog's situation. Them giving cause to run up the bill was even more so unethical.

[joeybee12]

17. Even a decent mechanic will call you about a bill...n/t

[Shell Beau]

10. I love the compassion here.

:eyes:

[grace0418]

11. I don't understand why you would become a vet if you didn't love animals and didn't

want to see all animals in loving homes instead of needlessly euthanized.

It seems to me that there are professions that are more profitable with less work than being a vet, yet this particular vet seems to be only in it for the money. I hope they get run out of business. I really do. If I lived in the area I would make my special mission to tell everyone I knew about this horrible vet and hopefully run them out of business.

It's so strange to me because my vet is soooooooooo compassionate. All the vets on staff are wonderful. When my husband and I had to put one of our cats down, the vet and his assistant were crying almost as much as we were.

[Rob H.]

13. Your vet sounds a lot like mine

I take my cat to a specific vet's office because the same vet always treats her (I think she's the only vet on staff who specializes in cats) and they know how important my cat is to me.

I can't imagine going to the vet and then being told they'll "dispose of" my pet (she's a member of my family!) even when it's clear I'm doing my best to make things right. That's just cruel.

[joeybee12]

18. I don't understand it either, but there are doctors out there who don't

like people...not everyone goes into a profession for a noble reason. My cats are very atuned as to who does and does not like them...when i moved and tried to find a vet the woman i took them to was very cold and they were obviously unhappy the entier time...last time with this vet.

[armyowalgreens]

16. Contact info for these pricks:

http://www.arkanimalhospital.info/

[blueknight]

22. i know a certain vet

that would get a good ass whipping

[blueknight]

23. i know a certain vet

that would get a good ass whipping

[ThomCat]

25. So, let me get this straight...

These assholes refused to take a payment plan, and then held the pet hostage and ran up the bill, all the while insisting that they would kill the pet if that now-increasing-by-the-day bill didn't get paid?

How is that not against the fucking law? :grr:

I hope a hell of a lot of local pet owners and animal lovers are up in arms about this. I hope that place gets a reputation from this that they never live down. x(

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

27. All I have to say is

WHAT A BUNCH OF FUCKING ASSHOLES! I hope they go out of business, mother fuckers. :grr:

[litlady]

28. Ridiculous - and vets are supposed to like animals nt