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Originally Posted by theporkieyorkie  Agreed there!!!
I think he is MUCH better at treating larger animals than smaller animals. It seems like most large animal vets are that way though and they seem to do the small animal as more of an afterthought or more of a side thing. In my home town, most of the large animal vets either grew up on a farm and/or owned farm animals and that is what they were passionate about.
It seems like farmers in general, have a very different viewpoint than many of us would with our animals. Their animals are their livelyhood more than another family member...and to them, their animals serve a purpose...even down to the barn cats that keep the mice out of the grain. If a barn cat got kicked by a cow or horse and broke it's leg, they wouldn't rush it in for surgery...it would be put down, most likely with a shot gun instead of going to the vet.
Some farmers do take care of their dogs when it comes to vaccinations and such, but you probably won't find a lot of them taking their pup to a specialist or putting a lot of money into their pet if it gets hurt. I think this minimalist approach to animal care, especially animals that aren't making the farmer money, has bled over to the way Dr. Pol and other large animal vets operate their small animal practice.
I also think that when Dr Pol is working on small animals, he tends to forget that he's not working on cows in a barn but instead, he is working on someone's beloved pet and family member. He might be able to get away with de-horning a goat without anesthesia, but he shouldn't be cutting off a dog's broken tail like that...especially when we DO have the medicine and the ability to make the dog more comfortable. Because many of us have humanized our pets and they are our family members, we expect them to get the best and most humane health care available to them...and with the advancements in veterinary care, we do now have access to vet care that nearly parallels the care that is available to humans. There's no need for a dog to sit and suffer in pain when they don't have to...and there's no need to take some or the risks he is taking when there's equipment and methods to make things safer and he's just unwilling to use them. Definitely not the small animal vet for me, but interesting none the less. |
I totally agree. There is no reason for any small animal to have to suffer needless pain when there are an abundance of pharmaceuticals that could spare it such pain.
While I agree farm people have animals for the sole purpose of providing a livelihood their is no reason to lose one's humanity and sensitivity to the suffering of all creatures.