I had been going here for a long time and never had any problems prior. There were long wait times, but totally worth it when you are saving a lot of money.
My dog had an x-ray showing a huge mass on her back. Her lung had collapsed. I went to another vet and paid a lot of money to try and see if we could save her. Unfortunately, after surgery and over a thousand dollars, we couldn't save her.
When I woke up, my dog's lung collapsed again. She was sleeping standing up when i woke up. She couldn't even lay down because she couldn't breathe. Her tongue was blue, and she was gasping for air. I made the heart breaking decision to put her down.
Now since she was an 80 lb dog, the place that had done the surgery was charging $250 to get her put to sleep. Since I had already spent so much money, i called Golden State Humane Society and told them about my situation.
The receptionist told me it was up to the Vet whether or not he wanted to put my dog down or not. I felt that she was in such terrible shape that he couldn't say no. BOY WAS I WRONG! I got there and got seated in the room for literally 45 minutes. Then the random assistant came in and asked me what i was there for. I told her why, and showed her the terrible condition my dog was in. She said she would explain to the vet and be back. Another 30 minutes passed, and SHE returned and informed me the vet wouldn't do it. I was SHOCKED. I told her, do you see how hard she is breathing, how she can't lay down, how her tongue is blue? She is MISERABLE. She said, ""yes i noticed but the vet said no."" I was livid. They made my dog suffer for over 3 hours (driving from huntington to Garden Grove is like a 30 minute drive each direction) made us wait for an eternity and WORSE OF ALL the Vet wouldn't even come in and explain WHY he wouldn't do it. I would understand why if her distress wasn't so crystal clear. I have never been back ever since even for shots. I spend about 500 more a year going elsewhere, but I can't go back there.
I thought the treatment of my dog was completely inhumane and HORRIBLE and I am disgusted that the vet can work for a ""humane"" society. I feel the worse part was, he didn't even come in the room and explain what motive he had. And also my poor dog suffered for so much time! I ended up paying over $200 to put her down at a private vets office where she had her surgery. If you have anything routine, you can go here. Out of of principle I refuse. That was my only bad memory, but it's such a negative memory, I could never bring myself to go there again....
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