Re: Couple devastated after vet accidentally gives their puppy lethal injection instead o

I would have thought the Vet would have to admit to it, the owners of the dog could have demanded an autopsy by an independent Vet, which of course could have led to big trouble for the first Vet.

Of course accidents can happen but so can negligence. A few years ago friends of ours had a German Shepherd, he had been rescued as a puppy and as he grew he began to get aggressive. He was adored by our friends and had never once been mistreated. Rio (the dog) was taken to the Vet who, unsurprisingly, recommended castration.

The castration was done, Rio began slowly to "calm down" but the aggression still continued. They actually went to one of these dog psychologists (correct name evades me), they were given all kinds of advice, none of it worked.

So, back to the Vet, a different one, who although a bit "rough and ready" had a good reputation. He had to sedate Rio to check him, he did some tests and it was shown that his testosterone levels were very high. Of course they shouldn't have been, he'd been castrated.

Another operation was done, which left poor Rio very poorly indeed, our friends thought they were going to lose him. One of Rio's testicles had somehow moved and was lodged way up in his body, where the Vet said not only was it still producing testosterone but must also have been causing him great pain.

The Vet told our friends they really should sue the original Vet for negligence, they must have known they had removed only one testicle. This they did, not for money but hopefully to ensure the original Vet practice took more care and responsibility in future. Our friends were awarded the cost of the two operations, medications and treatments, nothing more.

Rio recovered eventually and turned into a beautiful friendly dog who died of old age here in Spain 4 years ago. The Vets practice where the castration was first carried out is, I believe, still there in Chesterfield, presumably still going strong, but hopefully not telling clients they have removed two testicles when they have only removed one.