:( bloody melb cup

pagan · Post by **pagan** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:14 pm

i know this has nothing to do with fto's but im going to post it anyway, i need to let it of my chest and have no where and no one to tell it too.

today my dog died, my mum rang me and i rushed home, 30 min later my dog died in my arms. why? because vets are closed today, gambling at flemington. i called the animal ambulance and they had no units available, i called the opperator and to the guys credit he tried really hard to find me an open vet, unfortunatly the only two open where an hour away in each direction

i could see she didnt have anywhere near that much time left. So i sat and waited with her head in my lap for 20 minutes until she died. i think it was a spider bite. and she suffered before passing away.

i will never celebrate the damn cup again, vets are doctors too, and they have a duty of care as any doctor treating people. what would people say if a child was poisoned and the ambulance told the parent sorry we have no units available coz they are gambling. a dog is not a child or human, but damn they become part of the family after 10 years, besides ive never considered dogs as animals, they are something more, best mate anyone can ask for.

Fair well Lola, loyal friend to the end.

Chiangstar · Post by **Chiangstar** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:13 pm

im really sorry for your loss pagan...

that just sux

simon

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 5:14 pm

sorry to hear too pagan..... and maybe this isnt the place to say it, but remember vets are jsut as entitled to public holidays as you, me and everyone else is....

its terrible that your dog died, but a vet cannot be on call 24/7...

RedlineGX · Post by **RedlineGX** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:43 am

Sorry to hear mate...I would be upset if mine died like that as well...
I guess vets cant always be available either but it does suck that they were ALL closed the same day, could at least have a sit in...

GPXXX · Post by **GPXXX** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:52 am

R.I.P

my deepest condolensces...

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:39 pm

I would have thought that most Vets would have an afterhours or emergency number listed on their answering machines.

Doing so would be good for customer relations and also good for business, as they can charge a lot more in such circumstances.

Either way, this is a sad event.

sxcfto · Post by **sxcfto** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:29 pm

Deepest sympathy goes out to you... I am very close to my baby and would die if this happened.
Im with Ruchi on this one I would have thought they would have an emergency number after hours!
You wouldn't care what it cost you as long as you could save your animals.

Maybe a chance to bring this to the attention of the Veterinary Assos of Victoria ???

pagan · Post by **pagan** » Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:19 pm

thanks guys, its much appreciated. as you may now realise im a big animal lover.

i just dont think it was right for ALL of them to take the day off, i worked security for many years and you didnt have public holidays off unless you were lucky to have it rostored off, same as police same as doctors, you earn a lot for as a result. so NO they shouldnt have a right to have the day off. when you choose that occupation you also accept the demands, public holiday or not property needs protection, police need to be out and about and doctors need to heal, accidents dont stop on holidays. so they have no right! this is simply the jobs demand its that simple, you cant be a mechanic but would rather stay clean and not roll on the floor.

i just thought it very hypocritical that the animal cruelty goes out of their way to destroy an entire dog breed and has (rightly so) big time punishment for cruelty, yet NONE work on the melbourne cup and most likely every public holiday.

am i angry, yes, am i bitter, yes. i have had two dogs live happy lives and eventually die, both from old age. this was not old age, it was not peacfully and i DO bare a grudge that i was forced to hold my friend and sit thier as useless as a piece of turd until she died, all the while looking at me with the saddest pleading eyes.

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Thu Nov 04, 2004 1:44 pm

once again pagan im sorry.... im only sticking up for vets as i have 2 clients that are vets, and my old man is a dr so i know the ridiculous hours they work....

When you run your own business - own it, pay the bills etc, (as most vets do) you have the RIGHT to choose whatever hours you want to work. You also have the right to go on holidays, take days off and use public holidays. It is unforuntate that you could not find any vet open.... the same thing happened to us with our family dog, luckily we were able to drive our dog to bundoora (45min) and the dog had a blood transfusion and survived... If a vet chose to work, who would work reception? most receptionsists and assistants would want the day off too... and they may not be able to afford to pay a receptionist triple time and have the whole practice open....

If your dog was bitten, there may not have been much a vet could do?

im not trying to be harsh here, i am sorry you lost your dog, im just saying that these professionals are often critisised for taking the same public holidays that 99% of the population take for granted.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:31 pm

While I sympathise with Pagan, I agree with Euro.

A public holiday is a holiday for the public, so why shouldn't they take the day off?

Most doctors would also be off on this day, it would only mainly be hospitals that are open not all doctors.

The people I feel soriest for are those who work retail. For some reason they're not deemed to be part of the "public" and have to trade on most public holidays and in many cases, for no extra pay.

It does raise a valid point though, that if you have a pet you should have an after-hours or emergency contact sorted out for such events.

rxboy · Post by **rxboy** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 2:09 pm

I'm sorry for your loss Pagan. I am one of those that agrees with you on this matter. I work in a pharmacy, which is a great example of a health and retail related business. Sure, everyone is "free" to take a public holiday off, but I believe that health professionals who deliver essential services to the public have a duty of care to remain open at least for some part of the day. It is not just good business - it is necessary!

Most pharmacies remain open during public holidays! The only exception to this might be Good Friday, Christmas Day and New Year's Day - NOT Melbourne Cup. It is the responsibility of the owner to have casuals and locums available who can fill in when needed. That's what they are for! It should not matter whether the business makes little profit or just breaks even on public holidays.

Anyways, enough ranting for me

. That's my 5c

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 3:00 pm

I'm sceptial that any Chemist would open on public holidays due to a sense of "duty of care". They're more likely to be open for business reasons than for reasons of benevolence.

I don't understand why Vets are being attacked here given that most doctors, dentists etc. are also closed on public holidays. It's mainly just the hospitals which are open.

MADFTO · Post by **MADFTO** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:19 am

Pharmacies are still a business. If they were open every public holiday, and they went broke, who will provide the service?

If it was government run, things would be different, but unfortunately, this is the price of public holidays and overtime pay and have the private sector businesses.

Mind you, I wouldn't class pharmacies as critical, but that's just me.

D-TRAIN · Post by **D-TRAIN** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 8:25 pm

Pharmacies/Chemists definately works on most public holidays, as well as weekends. Props to them, I know pharmacists work hard.

But how did that come about from a dog/vets discussion??

R.I.P. Pagan's dog.

rxboy · Post by **rxboy** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 10:03 pm

D-TRAIN wrote:But how did that come about from a dog/vets discussion??

I was just pointing out that anyone in the health profession (whether doctor, vet, pharmacist or dentist) should remain open during public holidays because they provide a critical service to the public (maybe not so much dentists

).

I was just speaking from experience cos I know that the amount of money I get paid on public holidays often means that the business doesn't make jack squat

. So I have to disagree with Ruchi on that one.

The fact that the public knows that the pharmacy/doctor's office/veterinary clinic is open 365 days a year creates a positive image.

ruchi · Post by **ruchi** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:34 am

"Business reasons" doesn't necessarily means short-term profit - If the chemist is part of a chain / franchise then it is probably part of the business agreement that they have to be open on these days.

EURO · Post by **EURO** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 8:02 pm

find me a dr that wants to work 365 days a year? people dont realise, that doctors (depending on their speciality can often work 12 in 14 days and of those 12 days be on call 24 hrs a day... i know this because i live with one! )....

Just beacuse they between have a 5 - 12 year degree (which they pay for) doesnt not mean they owe a duty to be open every day of the year.... we are lucky in this country that we have the services we do, and on some days of the year, people like to utilise the public holidays - thats what they were designed for..

does that mean a person who may have a job, deemed less necessary to the public is allowed their public holiday?

as for companies that have to pay staff higher rates, they often make a huge amount of money on these days, especially hospitality as everyone goes there on their day off.... (of course this depends on the profession)

D-TRAIN · Post by **D-TRAIN** » Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:18 pm

I also think the legal term "duty of care" is being thrown around and used too loosely in this context.

There is a stark difference between duty of care and providing good service to the community.