Is their legal action I can take?

What do you mean by “later, I found out..”
Did they originally lie to you?

I wouldn’t need a lawyer to prosecute them… I’d need a defense lawyer. I’d murder someone if that happened to one of my babies.

no, I dropped her off, then went to work, “later” after work I found out.

Oh, how awful for you, tyrantxseries. I’m so sorry!

I’m so sorry! What did the vet say they would do?

That is so horrible. I really don’t know what to say except I am sorry.

they gave me the money back for getting it fixed, and said “sorry about your cat”

I’m speechless, tyrant. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe they’d be so cavalier.

That’s horrible. Have you talked to the other cats family?

@toomuchcoffee911
talked to them about what? after they realized it was the wrong cat, that cat was put down as well.
also they gave me a coupon, the next cat I bring in I get 10% off I don’t have it anymore, it was revoked after I ripped into the vet

a coupon?! A COUPON?!

There HAS to be some legal action that you can take on them.

And there are plenty of non-legal actions you can take :D

That’s really awful. I found some info about veterinarian malpractice. but I don’t know if this will help. It sounds like you would need to prove injury to you over the issue. I’m sure a lawyer could help to determine if you can sue for negligence based on emotional damage.
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For a plaintiff (animal owner) to recover damages for injury to an animal, in an action based on malpractice, all the following elements must be proven by the plaintiff (FN 14):

(1) The defendant was under a duty of care toward the animal in question. The veterinarian had accepted the responsibility to treat the animal.

(2) The actions or nonactions of the veterinarian did not conform to the professional standard of conduct (C & D infra.).

(3) The failure to conform to the professional standard was the proximate cause of the injury or harm at issue (E infra).

(4) The injury or harm resulted in damages to the plaintiff (not just the animal in question.

tyrantxseries, as an owner of 3.5 cats (the possession of the .5 is shared with a 90 year old neighbor), my heart goes out to you.

There has to be a board of veterinary licensing that you can file a complaint with, and the Better Business Bureau.

Was this a vet’s office that’s been seeing the cat for awhile for it’s shots, or were you a new patient?

I am very sorry for your loss.

OMG! I am so sorry! I can’t beleive all they did was say sorry and offer you a stupid coupon! As if you would even consider bringing another animal to them. if it were me, I’d call the SPCA first and see if they can refer you to legal counsel. There has to be a way you can sue them… and put them out of buisness.

@AlfredaPrufrock
a new patient, my regular vet is on vacation.

Are you in Ontario, tyrantxseries? I would complain to your regular vet and let them know what happened. In looking at some articles online, it appears the College of Veterinarians of Ontario polices the actions of veterinarians in Ontario, and in some cases has prosecuted vets for malpractice.

I cannot believe they offered you a coupon for 10% off after that. That took a lot of nerve.

I’m so sorry. Nothing can replace the specialness of that pet.

So let me get this straight. They pull a malpractice on your cat, killing it. Then they refund your money and give you a coupon for 10% off the next operation. However, once you start chewing out the vet they revoke the coupon?

That’s fucked up! There’s got to be a way for you to sue them.

Call the better business bureau.
Write a letter to the editor of local paper.
Call TV or radio stations that have consumer support.
GET THE WORD OUT.

You can def. take action. You have a great case. Call a lawyer. make sure they keep the animals body and u get ur pets file where they should have written they were put down. To prove they made the error

The coupon really pisses me off. And then they revoked it after you tore into the vet!
The vet is lucky he didn’t have to have the coupon surgically removed out of his a$$.

Thank you all for your support and advice, I will look into this further on monday with my lawyer.

@chyna lol, extremely lucky

I can’t imagine how somebody could, presumably, like animals enough to want to become a veterinarian, and yet apparently feel so little remorse over accidentally killing one of them. But I suppose years of putting down animals and seeing them die would make one rather jaded.

it wasn’t the vet that said that it was the receptionist, after giving my money back.

I’d talk to a lawyer, the state/province veterinarian licensing board and the state/province veterinarian association. The vet didn’t see you? Bang out of order! Probably knew you’d be upset and didn’t want to deal with it. And I’d report that part of it, too.

Tell the media. Newspapers, TV, anything you can get in to.

I don’t think going to the media is a good idea… I’m not a media friendly person.

If they wanted to avoid a lawsuit they should have offered better compensation than a 10% off coupon, which they had the gumption to revoke!

They need to be held accountable for their mistake.

It’s entirely possible a veterinary assistant made the error.

@AlfredaPrufrock
So what? That doesn’t change the fact that their business caused undue, irreversible damage.

ussually vets have to sign off on the documentation,

No, I know that, but I was just throwing that out there, as possibly the vet didn’t even know it happened, which is a whole other issue in terms of negligence. I cannot imagine the office not being compassionate about what they did. The whole thing is just awful. I can’t get over the coupon bit.

Veterinary Nazi says, “No coupon for you!”

I would contact a lawyer and ask if you can file a negligence claim against the vet for medical malpractice.
Negligence=duty, breach,causation and damages. Your attorney can make a strong case. Good luck. That vet needs to be punished for his/her action.

i cannot believe that they would give you a coupon, as if you’d want to bring another animal near that place! i’m sorry, i really don’t know, but i’m so so sorry for you, i can’t imagine having that happen to one of mine. i hope justice is served though.

My vet uses pictures in the files to avoid this very thing. I can’t understand why ALL vets don’t do that.