A woman has hit out at ‘astronomical’ prices charged by vets after her pet pug suffered a dental problem.
Lindsay Taylor, 53, is campaigning for veterinary surgeries to be regulated – and fees to be more transparent – after she was handed a bill of ‘over £1,000’ for her 11-year-old pug’s dental work last summer.
She said the experience left her ‘concerned’, saying that because ‘pets are like our children’, people feel pressured to accept fees without questioning them.
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) said it agrees practices should be regulated and said it was ‘pressing’ the government for ‘urgent reform’.
“I think that because our pets are like our children people just say ‘yeah, yeah, whatever it costs,” Lindsay told the Manchester Evening News.
“But I came home from the vets and I thought ‘this is wrong’. We shouldn’t just be accepting any fee. We need to be mindful and understand it.”
Lindsay decided to launch a petition to campaign for regulation of veterinary surgeries and transparency of prices, adding that it is ‘important’ people understand what agreeing to treatments could cost them.
Lindsay Taylor is taking her petition to parliament
(Image: Lindsay Taylor)
She sent it to a few friends on WhatsApp – and was ‘shocked’ to receive a call from Change.org the next week telling her the petition had gone viral.
“They told me it had reached 70,000 signatures in under a week,” she said. “I was pretty gobsmacked, it was all a bit of a shock.
“I suppose I have become a sort of crusader! But it’s not publicity for me – it’s publicity for the whole situation.”
Since that, the petition has reached over 130,000 signatures, meaning Lindsay can take it to Parliament to be debated at the end of the month. The issue is also being investigated by government watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority.
“The aim is to get something done to help pet owners,” she said. “We want to get it regulated so there is a benchmark so costs are a lot clearer.
“I think the compassion has been lost and it has turned into a money making scheme, rather than a situation where they call your pet by their name. There’s no interpersonal skills anymore.”
British Veterinary Association Junior Vice President Dr. Rob Williams said: “It will probably come as a surprise to many pet owners that while vets are regulated, vet practices are not, and at the British Veterinary Association we agree this needs to change. We continue to press the Government for urgent reform of the outdated Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 which fails to regulate vet practices, meaning that only individual vets and registered vet nurses are held accountable for clinical and more importantly business decisions, which in many cases they may have no say over.
“Whilst veterinary fees reflect the investment needed to keep practices financially viable and open, we recognise more can be done to improve client choice. We’re supporting the profession to take steps to improve transparency of both pricing and practice ownership. If pet owners have any concerns about costs, speak to your vet team who will work with you to find the best treatment plan for you and your pet.”