27/02/2025
Sorry that this is so long, but FYI for everyone in the Fort Lauderdale area. Don’t use VEG (Veterinary Emergency Group) over there:
I am a licensed wildlife rehabber in the Tampa Bay Area. I specialize in Raccoons and utilize both Tampa VEG locations. They are wonderful. They see wildlife at no charge to the rehabber.
When a girl down in Fort Lauderdale reached out to me about a raccoon she saw get hit by a car, I had her rush it to this VEG location.
I sent my license over to them and they agreed to care for the raccoon and do X-rays to check for injuries. They told me they would have to charge, but it would be discounted. I agreed to pay the bill because what other choice did I have? And I also understand that they don’t have the same program that the VEG locations here have. No big deal. The bill was paid and the X-rays came back with no injury.
While still searching for a rehabber local to the lady that has her, she kept her in her garage. At 2:30am (on 2/26), she found blood in the cage. With no visible external bleeding, and being unable to get ahold of me for advice, she did what anyone else would do and rushed her back to this VEG location.
She was shocked to find that where they were kind and empathetic before, the team she was met with was cold, uncaring, and seemingly unwilling to help her. She frantically tried getting ahold of me, unsuccessfully. She was willing to pay the bill, she just wanted this raccoon to get the care in desperately needed and deserved.
While there, they witnessed it defecate blood. Common sense would lead most people to think maybe there is an internal injury. Let’s do testing. What would be done for a dog or cat? That was not done here.
They told her to bring the raccoon to Wildlife Center of Florida and leave it in the carrier for them to find in the morning. If you go to their website, they CLEARLY state not to do this. They want you to keep the animal in a safe space until the morning when they open. Fortunately, the lady that brought her in knew that wasn’t the right thing to do and said no.
At this point the young man who was “helping” her (Anthony) told her to surrender the raccoon over to VEG and he PROMISED her he would bring it to Wildlife Center of Florida. He promised to text her updates and never did. At this point I knew it wasn’t good, but was still hopeful.
I managed to get ahold of the Medical Director at this VEG to get to the bottom of things. He immediately laughed at me and told me “yeah, it was euthanized. We sent the head off for testing.” Shocked, I asked him WHY? He said “it tried to bite a member of my staff and we have to test it for rabies.” TRIED. She did NOT bite them. Like any scared animal, she lashed out. How could you euthanize an innocent animal for that? Because it’s a raccoon?
I’m appalled and will be filing a report with the state as this is unethical behavior from veterinary professionals.
Their Google page:
https://g.co/kgs/rRCt34q
Veterinary Emergency Group
