Florida Owner Claims That Vet Killer Her Dog

by Dr. Chris

September 23, 2010 In West Palm Beach Florida, a woman there claims that a vet killed her pug after she took him there for a routine nail trim. Apparently during the nail trim the dog died of heart failure.

Tracy Smith claims that the dog was anesthetize in order to give the nail trim. This was likely because the dog was extremely fractious.

Normally it is routine for a dog to have a full physical examination and complete blood work before a dog is anesthetized. Which the owner claims did not happen in this case.

We don't know the vet's side of the story, but hopefully the owner had to sign a form stating that she was aware of the risks of anesthesia in an old pug.

Obviously the dog was very fractious and did not like having its nails trimmed. Why else would you pay a lot of money to have a vet trim your dog's nails when you could do it yourself?

It is also a reminder for veterinarians to make sure to have clients sign off on the procedures that dogs will have performed on them. And that clients are aware that older pugs are prone to a wide variety of respiratory and heart problems.

Is this a case of owner and media over reaction? Or did the vet fail to inform the owner of the risks? We don't know the whole story, but this is a good reminder that there is always a risk of death when undergoing anesthesia.

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