For some reason, a certain part of humanity thinks that vets should be doing the work just out of kindness, eg free or nearly free. Minor surgery on your dog st

For some reason, a certain part of humanity thinks that vets should be doing the work just out of kindness, eg free or nearly free. Minor surgery on your dog still requires anesthesia, x-rays, IV fluids, scalpels, etc etc, and those are usually exactly the same supplies as for human surgery. They cost the same. Also bear in mind that the nature of veterinary practice is different from eg a surgical practice. If you need surgery, you don’t go to “the local surgeon”. You get referred to a hospital or a specialty surgical practice. Ever seen a Yelp review for a heart surgeon? Neither have I. But if your dog needs surgery, you go to the little vet practice down the street. The vets in that practice are generally exactly the same people you bring your dog to for their shots. They aren’t protected by a layer of administration and lawyers. They get Yelp reviews all the time — very, very bad ones. Death threats. Because they had the temerity to tell a patient that a cardiac bypass on Benji was going to cost $10,000, and the family couldn’t afford it so Benji died. Vets are in your community in a way that surgeons aren’t. That exposes them to direct abuse to a far greater degree than surgeons. My wife knows a vet who was sued because an owner claimed that the rabies vaccine “gave the cat autism”. Really.