Complaint Review: Animal Hospital at Anthem

       
On Dec 1st, 2011, we dropped Hannah off at 8 am and were told to pick her up at 4.

 During the procedure they had called our home and cell numbers to tell us that they were extracting 8 of Hannahs teeth that were infected so we knew they had our phone numbers.

        
When Ian went to pick her up, he waited in the waiting room and eventually the manager,Sarah Medora, came out and said "We have some good news and some bad news. The good news is Hannahs teeth cleaning went great! The bad news is she is lost. We lost her."

        
They said she had to go potty after waking up form anesthesia at 3 pm so they took her outside and this 12 pound, groggy, 8 yr old Maltese who had major surgery pulled out of her harness and another leash that they use that goes around their neck.

        
They did not call us at all. They said they were out looking for her and they had even called the police but we found out later they did not call the police.

        
We know from the DPS, who people seeing her running on the exit ramp called,  that they saw her wonder into the highway at 5: 15 and get hit. It was Thursday evening rish hr traffic with a speed limit of 75 Miles per hr. The police didnt stop traffic until AFTER she was hit. Then they picked up her little body and put it on the side of the road.

        
 We found her body at about 7:30 that night. The DPS saw us on the highway hysterical and told us what they had seen.

        
The whole time we were looking for her, it was 45 degrees and raining. We could hear each other calling for her in this tiny town but we never saw or heard one person from the hospital except in the parking lot.

        
Since then, we contacted lawyers and they said there is nothing you can do. The only compensation or 'penalty' you would get is the cost of her and she wasnt 'worth anything. The courts in AZ and most others states recognize animals, companions, as having no intrinsic value.

        
Even though the vets said they were in the wrong, they wouldnt say what really happened and have made no changes to their practices.

        
We contacted the Better Business Bureau and they gave the hospital an A minus rating instead of an A plus and on their web site now it is nothing, undecided. They are manipulating that too.

        
The AZ Vet Board told us that 'these things happen and it has happened to most of them in their practices, where a dog got out of their care. The AZ Vet Board found Brain Waller and Chris Snoddgress innocent of losing Hannah.

        
However, for not calling us for 50 minutes, Brian Waller, since he runs that particular clinic, was given a mark on his file for unprofessional conduct.  Thats it.

        
So nothing will change in this society until we pass a law saying that we do have power, as consumers, in a court of law, to sue for intrinsic value. Our pets are worth more than a table, a chair, a TV or a rug. They have MEANING and our
courts need to work for us to recognize that. Maybe professionals will be more careful if they know this.