$80 to put a chicken down?

[BelovedBirds]

I recently had to put my chicken down. She was suffering had only a few hours left In her. She couldn't stand and was breathing shallow for a few hours. She just wouldn't die on her own. I just got my bill today. I though 80 dollars to put a half dead chicken down was a little steep. What do you think?

Boy, of all things, euthanasia should be either cheap, or free. Every animal should have the right to go humanely if treatment isn't possible. I mean, in my country, its literally illegal to let your pet suffer and not take them to a vet. But if you take them to a vet you get charged a lot for treatments, and a lot for euthanasia. So, many people don't bother. Doesn't feel fair.

Edited to add: I'm not suggesting that vets shouldn't be paid plenty for their profession, but I think the government could be helping with funding their practice.

 

[Alagirl]

Boy, of all things, euthanasia should be either cheap, or free. Every animal should have the right to go humanely if treatment isn't possible. I mean, in my country, its literally illegal to let your pet suffer and not take them to a vet. But if you take them to a vet you get charged a lot for treatments, and a lot for euthanasia. So, many people don't bother. Doesn't feel fair.

Edited to add: I'm not suggesting that vets shouldn't be paid plenty for their profession, but I think the government could be helping with funding their practice.

Considering the importance of vets for the economic backbone of society, I agree, government needs to step up more.
Veterinarians have a tough job. They are as qualified as Human physicians, have the same school bills, but make a lot less, are more questioned about their billing practices and too often the end treatment is to kill the patient.
And even that is expensive to do, and the customers complain about cost.
We, as a whole have gotten too comfortable not having to deal with death.
At least with chickens the DIY method is still acceptable.
I am not sure I will be able to do the deed when it will be time for my girls to depart from this earthly coop. I know how to. There is that societal taboo about killing stuff as civilized person.
(and there is a real problem when a 20-30 dollar animal requires hundreds of dollars of vet care. Ethics demand it to be treated, the pocket book thinks otherwise)

 

[BelovedBirds]

Considering the importance of vets for the economic backbone of society, I agree, government needs to step up more.
Veterinarians have a tough job. They are as qualified as Human physicians, have the same school bills, but make a lot less, are more questioned about their billing practices and too often the end treatment is to kill the patient.
And even that is expensive to do, and the customers complain about cost.
We, as a whole have gotten too comfortable not having to deal with death.
At least with chickens the DIY method is still acceptable.
I am not sure I will be able to do the deed when it will be time for my girls to depart from this earthly coop. I know how to. There is that societal taboo about killing stuff as civilized person.
(and there is a real problem when a 20-30 dollar animal requires hundreds of dollars of vet care. Ethics demand it to be treated, the pocket book thinks otherwise)

I know some methods too, but I don't think I'd be confident enough to do it. Wouldn't be able to think straight in that situation. Same goes for my dogs. The only pets I have put down have been goldfish.

I'd have to seek a vet, my closest exotics. And I don't think it would be cheap.

You make an amazing point about how cheap animals can be, and how expensive their care is. During my time in a pet store. I often talked people out of purchasing rabbits, hamsters etc. They were the most common impulse pets, and because they were cheap people thought they'd be easy cheap little pets. It's frustrating, but I find some pet stores are doing better at educating customers and preventing this, some.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This thread is about 5 years old and i would really recommend making a thread about this to talk about it elsewhere if you want to continue to discuss it.

Opening a new thread is not necessary.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Opening a new thread is not necessary.

Just meant if they are interested in discussing something about vets.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

None of the vets I’ve been to have charged upfront. They do the exam, shots, whatever, first and then you pay before you leave. But that’s for dogs and cats. Maybe it’s different with birds. I don’t really see how anyone can really charge upfront though because they don’t know how much it’s going to cost or what services you’re going to get. It doesn’t make sense to me. We’ll see with Brew’s neuter if they make us pay upfront or not.

If I understand correctly, the person who was charged $700 to euthanize their chicken (Not the OP) took their hen to an animal emergency clinic. Several times through the decades I took dogs to an urban animal emergency clinic, which opened after my regular vet closed and stayed open all night. They always requested payment up front before performing any services. They requested payment for initial exam, then requested payment for additional treatments once an exam was performed. Very different from "regular" vets which present a bill after all services are rendered.

I understand that the person who paid $700 is upset because the vet wouldn't euthanize before receiving payment, even though the hen was suffering terribly. Horrible as the situation was, I'm not surprised the vet refused to euthanize before receiving payment, and though $700 seems borderline outrageous to me, I'm not really surprised at that either. Animal emergency clinics are a whole 'nother ballgame compared to regular vets.

 

[Chicken poppy]

I’m inspired by a friend who is a very kind vet, people come to her house and she will help them absolutely free just because she is kind. She even put sutures in a chicken for me, so when i become a Avian vet i will make sure to do the same and help people if needed.

 

[ShrekDawg]

If I understand correctly, the person who was charged $700 to euthanize their chicken (Not the OP) took their hen to an animal emergency clinic. Several times through the decades I took dogs to an urban animal emergency clinic, which opened after my regular vet closed and stayed open all night. They always requested payment up front before performing any services. They requested payment for initial exam, then requested payment for additional treatments once an exam was performed. Very different from "regular" vets which present a bill after all services are rendered.

I understand that the person who paid $700 is upset because the vet wouldn't euthanize before receiving payment, even though the hen was suffering terribly. Horrible as the situation was, I'm not surprised the vet refused to euthanize before receiving payment, and though $700 seems borderline outrageous to me, I'm not really surprised at that either. Animal emergency clinics are a whole 'nother ballgame compared to regular vets.

I didn’t realize that but that makes more sense now. So they make you pay and then add more charges once they figure out what’s needed? Seems odd to me.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I didn’t realize that but that makes more sense now. So they make you pay and then add more charges once they figure out what’s needed? Seems odd to me.

It'd be really easy for folks to dip when they aren't established clients.

 

[ShrekDawg]

It'd be really easy for folks to dip when they aren't established clients.

Yeah that’s a good point. I hadn’t really thought of that.