Vet warns that people are shooting their pets because they cannot afford vet bills

A vet with over 50 years of experience has warned that dog owners are shooting their own pets because they cannot afford fees for treatment.

David Thomson, 72, has called on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) to intervene as he claimed some corporately owned veterinary chains have put profit before care, allegedly recommending costly treatments where simpler ones could work.

“I know of dog owners in my community who, unable to pay hefty vets’ fees have shot their pets to put an end to their suffering. Vets should be offering care, but the first question the big chains ask now isn’t, ‘let me see what we can do for your pet’, it is, ‘are you insured’? or ‘what is your credit card number’.”

In 2013 just 10 per cent of vet practices were run by large corporations, but that figure has risen to 60 per cent. Many vet chains have strengthened their positions by also offering pet insurance.

The current RCVS guideline is that if a pet owner has no funds to pay for treatment, isn’t eligible for charitable assistance and no other form of financial assistance can be found “euthanasia may have to be considered on economic grounds”.

Mr Thomson, from Stoke-on-Trent, wrote in a public letter to the RCVS, which has been shared 2,500 times on Facebook, that he was “unhappy that the veterinary profession, once beloved by the masses, is now considered a profession of greed, avarice and uncaring…….the RCVS say charities should help [pet owners without funds]. But how? They are all strapped for cash.”

Mr Thomson cited an example of one veterinary practice charging £540 for one stitch in a dog’s leg, with the dog under sedation.

“We wouldn’t sedate a human for one stitch…..wouldn’t cleaning it and putting in two quick staples have done the job just as efficiently at a fraction of the cost?” he said.

It comes as vets face a probe by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) into how much they charge amid “multiple concerns” that customers are getting a bad deal.

The CMA said in March that it would launch a formal investigation into the vet sector after preliminary inquiries found evidence that the market wasn’t working properly.

There is evidence that customers are not getting enough information on prices to allow them to shop around and fears that pet owners are overpaying for medicines.

The CMA flagged in September that prices for pet care had risen faster than the rate of inflation.