cat sent for cremation without consent

[skylace34]

Hi all - I am new to these forums and am desperately seeking advice as to whether I can take a complaint with a local emergency vet further.

 

I am beyond devastated at the moment - I suffer with anxiety and depression which has worsened since I lost my beloved 4 year old cat. I got my cat shortly after my Mum was diagnosed with cancer and he was a great comfort to me, especially after my Mum passed away in 2011 - I believe that my cat, Jasper saved me after I lost my Mum - he was so loving and affectionate (am crying as I type this).

 

Jasper was insured, fully vaccinated, micro-chipped, neutered, well looked after and ate better quality food that I do(!)

 

Below are details of what happened to Jasper and the stress and upset that came about afterwards (all of this information was provided in an email to the principal vet at the clinic, the RSVS and head office of the emergency vets) After being pushed from pillar to post and told by staff members to speak to other staff members and furthermore, being lied to, I felt that I had no choice but to involve head office/RSVS.

 

26th August - ginger cat was taken into emergency vets - later found out that

2 ginger cats had been taken in, one of which was also microchipped and

from a different area and the owners had been to collect the body which was

DOA.

 

1st September - After advertising my cat as missing via Facebook,

information came to light regarding a cat being taken into the vets surgery

matching the description of my cat. My partner, that evening went to

the vets and was told that it was a different cat that had been taken

in.

 

4th September - My partner and I spoke to a lady who had taken a ginger

cat into the local emergency vets - matching the description of my cat and which was

found in the outside area of where I live.

Following posters put up advertising Jasper as lost, I later received a

phone call from a lady who also took the cat to the vets with the other lady. Having

told both ladies that the vets only had one cat taken in that night

from another area, I believe one of them phoned up to enquire about the

cat that they had bought in.

 

5th Septermber - I went into the vets where the emergency vets operate from in the hope of gaining some information but was told that I needed to contact the emergency vets directly - I was however told that a

ginger cat (the one from a different area) had been taken in the same night

(26th August) as my cat. There was no information in the book

regarding Jasper but information was written down about the other cat

(which I have seen for myself)

 

9th September - At 9.20pm I phoned the emergency vets as advised by the

receptionist at the practice where they work from (out of hours) and was told that there was no record

of my cat being taken in. I asked if any cat had been taken in that

evening and was told a definite no - (this is an obvious lie as I know

for a fact that my cat and another ginger was taken in that night)

 

After this, and my building frustration I did a websearch of my cats

microchip details and found that information on him had been logged

with Pet Log - my partner phoned Pet Log and we were told that a phone

call had been made regarding my cat on 26th August at 10.51pm and we

were given the name of the person who made the call

and where the call was made from (the emergency vets where the 2 ladies had taken Jasper). In relation to

Jaspers microchip, on 30th August (4 days after a call was made to Pet

Log) I contacted the microchipping company to register Jasper as lost

and was told that they had no information on him but would contact me

if anything came to light (I have heard nothing from them). Also, all of mine and my cats details were up to date on the system

 

Following this information we returned to the vets clinic with little success, only to be told to return the following

evening when the person who made the call would be

working. I enquired as to why information on animals is not stored

digitally and why there is no record of my cat being taken in, but it

was still denied that my cat had even been there. (I find it baffling

that in this day and age, computers aren't used to store details of

animals which come into vet clinics in the situation that Jasper was).

I asked one of the nurses if she could check cold storage to see if my

cat could be in there but he wasn't and she was adamant about this (I also showed the nurse a picture of Jasper who was a ginger cat) Furthermore, on an earlier visit

I was told that animals are kept in cold storage until the owners are

contacted, or for 7 days (often longer) - as my partner visited the clinic to enquire

about my cat on 1st September, this was not a week therefore, if Jasper

had been in cold storage he should have been returned.

 

The following evening (12 September), my partner and I again returned

to the clinic to speak to the lady who had made the call to Pet Log,

with my cats microchip details. After waiting a while to speak to her

we were taken into a room and given no further information - the only

thing to come out of it was that she was the only person out of all the

staff at the clinic to admit that 2 ginger cats had been

taken in on the evening of 26th August. I asked where my cat was and

she said that she was unsure and it would be best to speak to the

people who were working that night, one of whom I believe was the

nurse who checked cold storage. We were told that they would look

into the situation and contact us but we heard nothing. We were

also told that we would be given the names of the staff working that

night but were but this was not done.

 

My partner phoned the emergency vets head office (10th Septermber at 5.36pm)

to take this matter further and were told that they would get back to

us - this never happened. I

myself also emailed head office and had no response at all.

In 2012, Jasper required emergency treatment and was taken into the emergency vets and I couldn't fault the care he was given which makes

me wonder if they are only interested in animals when there is

money involved.

 

Following the email that I sent (I have condensed it down a bit and removed names etc), I had a standard email from the RSVS saying that I could fill in a form, although they had all of the details that they required.

I heard nothing from the principal vet at the emergency vets surgery - when I last phoned the vets I was told to contact the principal vet by letter or email - I did enquire as to why I couldn't speak over the phone or in person but was fobbed off.

A few days after sending the emails I had a response from head office asking if I could provide contact details of the 2 ladies who found my cat and took him in to the emergency vets - fortunately one of the ladies was forthcoming (I think the other has moved as the house has a sold sign outside), so I emailed back with the details of the person and was informed that an investigation would take place.

 

As this email was sent at the beginning of October, I had come to the conclusion that Jasper had died but couldn't fully accept it or move on until I knew for sure.

On Friday 31st October, I received an email - the email came from head office but was written (typed) by the principal vet with her findings on the situation.

Although, as I say, I had come to the conclusion that Jasper had passed away it was still a shock when it was confirmed. The letter was extremely apologetic but some of the issues that I raised were not even answered. Moreover, the email in parts pointed the blame at my partner (for apparantly giving the wrong date that Jasper was taken in to the vets which is wrong and his daughter was with him who can confirm that this is untrue). They have also put blame on the microchipping company for not being able to get my details after Jasper was scanned and blame on me for not making sure his details were up to date (which they were as I rang the microchip company after he went missing).

 

What upset me the most is that the email stated that Jasper was sent for cremation on 29th September - almost a month after he arrived at the clinic, and during which time I phone them/went into the clinic - even asking a nurse to check cold storage. According to the email this was due to "human error". I am beyond devastated - I had suspected initially that Jasper had been cremated and they were trying to cover it up and I said in my first email that, if that was the case I would prefer honesty. But the fact that he was at the clinic and all staff knew about Jasper (from the amount of times I visited/contacted them, they were all aware that I was looking for him). I never got a chance to say goodbye to my best friend - I wasn't there at the end and I would have liked to have had him cremated (on his own) so that I could keep the ashes. The vet did apologise in the email and offered as a "goodwill gesture" to pay for a memorial for Jasper. I have yet to reply to the email because I am so upset (crying as I type this).

As a result of everything that has happened, I have been unable to stay at my flat where I have lived for 6 years. My partner lives a few miles away so I have been staying with him but whenever I need to go back to my flat I end up getting extremely upset because my flat has a lot of Jaspers things in there (3 beds(!!) a box of toys etc). It has also had a significant impact on my ongoing depression/anxiety.

 

I don't know what else to type - I just wondered if anyone had any advice? Losing an animal is heartbreaking but to then be denied the chance to say goodbye is horrible. I said in my initial email that I wouldn't want anyone else to go through what I have and the last email I received stated that they have now changed their "procedures" - to be honest I find most of what they say to be untrue. Over the 2 months where I was contacting this practice (which operates emergency out of hours service in many different practices) I did some research and found a lot to be not great in terms of service provided/cost etc.

 

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated - and apologies for the lengthy post

[hightail]

I do feel for you. This is a miserable tale. I've got a feeling I could name the company. There's nothing you could have done as it was someone else who took your cat to an emergency vet. However, it is a warning for any pet owner to choose a vet which provides their own out of hours service. All vets will claim there is OOH cover, they're legally obliged to have it in place. Many contract it out and if you need a vet outside normal working hours you can find yourself being redirected to a place you don't know and/or seeing staff who have no reason to give two hoots about the client.

[skylace34]

Thank you for your reply - my cat was taken to the local OOH vets by 2 people who found him (but which is also my OOH vets - have used them in the past and they were fine all the while money was involved) - it was preferable to him being left by the road where a fox could have had him/he could have been run over. I am just so angry that they sent my cat off for cremation whilst knowing that I was actively looking for him (and even asked a member of staff to look in cold storage when he was there) - makes me wonder if there was a reason they weren't prepared to hand over the body. Finding the situation really stressful and have just forwarded the email that I received onto the RCVS who were aware of the situation a few weeks ago.

[citizenB]

Very sad - I would be extremely upset and very angry as well.

 

When a pet dies from natural causes or as you say when the owner is present and is aware, that is hard enough but to be given the run around the way you have is beyond disgraceful and I would question the attitude of the Vet in this instance.

 

However, I think having now discovered the truth, you should accept the offer of the memorial. Then grieve for your beloved Jasper and try to look forward.

[citizenB]

Have you advised Jasper's Insurer of this?

[skylace34]

Hi - I cancelled Jaspers insurance a few weeks ago as I was convinced that Jasper had died and the way things were going, there would have been no proof of it. Not that I am interested in money (my insurance covers death). Thanks for your reply

[citizenB]

Hi - I cancelled Jaspers insurance a few weeks ago as I was convinced that Jasper had died and the way things were going, there would have been no proof of it. Not that I am interested in money (my insurance covers death). Thanks for your reply

 

If you have a record that Jasper had died prior to the cancellation of the insurance, then I would think they are liable to pay out. I appreciate you are not interested in the money, you could donate it to a Cat charity.. however, you paid the premiums for such a situation.