1 month into my career as a vet, a client walked into an exam room with Mulan and tried to get me to euthanize her because she was allergic to fleas. At the time, I thought that sort of thing happened all the time, someone showing up in your hospital with your very favorite breed of pet, needing to give them up.
It never happened to me again. I have to believe our paths were meant to cross (especially since my not-so-sentimental colleague at the time might very well have obliged her request.)
As one might expect, the staff of a veterinary hospital is pretty pet-oriented. We all have pets- most of us, multiple pets- with the exception of our one anomalous staff member with no animals, much to everyone’s bafflement. He has a young family, he’s understandably busy, and he just hasn’t gotten around to it.
When our no-nonsense receptionist took a break this afternoon, she asked this staff member to watch the front desk for her. 10 minutes later, he walked into the back with a really cute little puppy.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
He shrugged. “This lady came in, handed me the dog, said she couldn’t keep him and left.” He paused. “At least he had a parvo vaccine.”
The receptionist, who had just entered the room, looked at him like he was out of his mind. “What do you mean she gave it to you? Why did you let her do that? We don’t take relinquishments!” She started to look panicked. “What are we going to do with him? We can’t keep a puppy here! What am I going to tell the boss??”
As I started to run through the list of options in my head, it occurred to me that the staff member was still holding the puppy with absolutely no effort to hand him off to anyone else. It was, dare I say, a bit possessive.
“Did you call your wife?” I asked suspiciously.
“She’s fine with it,” he admitted.
This marks the fourth fifth pet this year turned over at our clinic who would up adopted by a staff member. Not that I condone veterinary hospitals as a dumping ground for unwanted pets, but the times I’ve seen it happen, the staff has always wound up working very hard to get the pet adopted out. Not once has a pet been turned over to a shelter. We’re suckers.
I can’t say I approve of someone doing what she did, but you have to admit it could have turned out much worse for the pup.
I wish you would have had a picture of the cute pup to post! Great story! 🙂
I wish you had a picture to post too, because right now, that creepy pug with the dentures is in the pedigree ad over there and I don’t want to think of the cute puppy as looking like that! LOL
We had that happen so many times when I worked for Banfield during my early college days as a vet tech. Unfortunately I did not work with such wonderful people and they turned them all over to the SPCA. I did end up adopting Andy from there so I guess it kind of makes up for that. Thanks for being so wonderful!
Karen
I saw this on your twitter feed yesterday! (I don’t have a twitter, but occasionally glance at the feed on this blog. The post yesterday caught my eye.. does this make me a stalker?) The puppy was so adorable! My mom and I both melted.
I wonder if people think places like vet offices are the equivalent of the safe havens for babies (i.e. fire stations, police station, hospital). I’ve always wondered why there seems to be a stigma against dropping an animal off at a shelter. Usually there’s a fine (ours is a minimum of $10 but you can always donate more), but it’s not like they launch a criminal investigation as to why you had to surrender the animal. Maybe there should be more public education on the topic.
I’m so glad the puppy has a home!
That was the cutest lil’ puppy ever. I’m glad the tech and the pup found each other.
Adorable puppy, I’m so glad he went home to such a caring family. I too believe that all of these things happen for a reason – every once in a while someone/thing is looking out for those pets 🙂
Ask and you shall receive. Dr. V posted a pic on her twitter account 🙂
http://twitpic.com/16gga6
We do the same at our clinic… we have personally adopted animals that people relinquish, or find them homes with good-standing clients. I own two cats because of this!
Also, I swear that those of us that are passionate about animals have some sort of “Bat-signal”-like beacon above our homes that let animals know we are a safe haven. I have had 3 lost dogs show up at my doorstep (not my yard, street, etc… actually at my door) and I reunited them with their owners. The other girls at the veterinary hospital have said the same thing. One girl was walking at the beach and a dog ran up to her out of nowhere, and she found his owner. I firmly believe that the universe lets animals know who is available to help them. 🙂
SOOOO happy to hear this had a happy ending!
How about an updat on the pup when he gets settled in? From the angle of your picture , he looks like a corgi. But then again, from that angle most pups could look like a corgi.
I love happy rescue stories!
It’s so nice that everyone in your office is so sweet to adopt these pets but those people who abandon pets really suck!!