04/25/2023
To our Greater Lansing area community,
We do this job because we love animals, and want to help them live happy, healthy lives. Although operating 24 hours a day every day is a huge undertaking for a small business with no corporate backing, we find ways to make it work because we know the community needs options for care, and because we want to be there to help.
Recently we became aware of a group of social media users who are sharing their experiences with our clinic online and asking individuals to leave poor reviews in return for access to their private discussions. Some of you may have also seen recent media coverage of the situation. While we respect the right to free speech, many of the statements and posts were inaccurate, and many of these posts also promoted harassment of our clinic and team members. Members of this social media group also posted names and photos of some of our employees, causing staff to feel unsafe. Our staff have been subjected to numerous profane and threatening phone calls and messages in recent weeks which have included death-threats. We are even aware of one individual who posted on social media that he "sat in the parking lot and tried to figure out how much prison time I could do for violence against the staff.”
At this point in time, we believe it’s fair to speak out. Some of the statements posted in association with this specific social media group are probably reflective of misunderstandings, but most of the posts are at best distortions of the truth, while many others are blatantly false. Multiple posts have grossly overstated treatment costs. For example, one individual suggested she was charged $3000 for services when in actuality her total bill was $607.50. Another post suggested that we use “choke” collars on pets. The only type of leash or lead we use is the industry standard “slip lead” which is typical of virtually every veterinary hospital as it protects the pet from getting loose and harming itself or others. In fact, we do not have a single “choke” collar in our hospital. Another client stated that she experienced a wait time of 7 hours when our time-stamped records clearly show that pet was in our hospital for less than an hour. Other members of this social media group have shared false information regarding our diagnoses or treatment recommendations for their pets which are directly refuted by our medical records, whereas others have suggested that medical care was inappropriate. Although we were confident in the care we provided, we retained the services of an independent board-certified specialist in emergency medicine to review these records, which confirmed the appropriateness of medical care.
We have no desire to go “tit-for-tat” through every statement made by this specific social media group, rather we wanted to highlight our side of the story. We do acknowledge that wait times can be long and in some cases very well may exceed 4-6 hours during peak times. As an emergency room, our clinic operates on a “triage” basis. The first priority is to stabilize more critical patients first, then to treat stable patients in order of arrival time. While it can be frustrating to arrive before others and then see their pets go back for treatment first, please know this is because urgent intervention is needed for those cases. Though this can unavoidably lead to long wait times in situations where multiple pets come in with life-threatening conditions, we believe most would appreciate this protocol if it was their pet’s life on the line. We also recognize that emergency care is expensive, and budget is a factor for all of us. Unfortunately, some of the pets in need of emergency services are very sick and require a high-level of diagnostics and care. We are always willing to discuss alternative treatment options when possible and work within a given budget, but if we don’t charge enough to cover the costs of treatment, materials used, and 24/7 staff, then we can’t keep our doors open and serving the needs of the community.
We recognize we aren’t perfect, and we are always willing to learn and improve. At the same time, we hope you’ll agree that our staff, all of whom are members of the local community, should not be subjected to extreme harassment and death threats due to disagreements about billing, wait-times, or recommendations for care. If you ever want to ask questions, express concerns, or share suggestions for how we can do better, we’re here to talk. Please feel welcome to reach out to [email protected] at any time. We look forward to continuing to serve the Greater Lansing community and beyond.
