Discrimination at our Vet

Well, it might just be time to find a new vet.. We have used this vet and the office for almost 6 years and have probably at least paid the mortgage for a year on the building..LOL

My vet loves the labs but the energy I get when I bring Miss Maddie in to see her, well isn't positive. In addition , she told my neighbor - Maddie scares her :( I guess if you don't know Maddie she might scare you and if you put that fearful energy out the dog will pick up on that.
The last visit Maddie had to see the vet - she was impressed with Miss Maddie - how good, well behaved and loving Miss Maddie was with the tech.

We went to see our favorite Vet Tech at our Vets office this morning. We go every 4-6 weeks to get the dogs nails dremmeled. We have a very busy vet office and sometimes have to wait up to an hour to have this done. Now that it is summertime, that isn't an option for us. Plus they are only open M-F 9-5:30. So our favorite vet tech comes in at 8 am for me to bring the three dogs up to get their nails done. Also, this is much easier on Miss Maddie. There are no other dogs or cats unleashed in the waiting room.

So we go in and get the nails done. In the meantime the owner shows up. She wasn't happy we were there before 9. Our vet tech told her it was cleared by our vet and this is normal procedure.

So i put the dogs in the truck and go back in to get heartworm.

I mention the Sandy BSL. Well the owner of the practice goes OFF on Pit bulls and how they all need to be destroyed immediately. She said "I just don't dislike them I HATE THEM". yada yada yada. She is pretty much yelling at this point. She tells a story that years ago they had a man bring in pit bulls that fought in the ring(umm hello isn't that illegal?). I say something to the affect that "well it's not the dogs fault they were fought - it's the owners doing". WRONG THING TO SAY. She became so angry and said "You don't know what you are talking about, I have been in the business over 30 years - they are all very very bad dogs, need to be taken off the planet, destroyed etc." You can see the anger in her eyes. I told her I am sorry that I upset her and that I am sorry she has had bad experiences. She continues to go off about them being human aggressive and dog aggressive(hello pit bulls are DA - and I don't know anything - lol DA can not be cured only managed). The vet tech chimmed in saying she has never been bitten by Pits and gave examples of the small breed dogs she has been bitten by . But that did not stop the owner.....I told her if a dog is HA - any breed - then the dog should be put to sleep - that is IMHO. And that HA and DA are two different things.

The owner continued to tell me stories of how she has often kicked out Pit Bulls from the office..

Finally, I stopped her and said " when then I guess I should find Maddie a new vet". That shut her up pretty fast !I could see dollar signs flashing thru her eyes. She says"well Maddie is only part Pit - she isn't full" I told her yes Maddie is full...She fell silent. the vet tech was there and she told the owner how wonderful and loving Miss Maddie is and how far she has come from the first time we brought Maddie in. The owner asked why she wears the calming cap in the office - and I explained Maddie's history, her fearfullness and well, she is a Pit Bull and DA is normal for the breed. I felt bad for saying that about Miss Maddie but it is the truth. She is very DA...

She continued her roll on the breed - but not as harsh. She did say she has a few nice ones that come into the office.

She eventually told me a pit bull , who got out of it's crate (maybe the owners fault), killed a horse.

I tried to plug in a few positive things about our breed, but it fell on deaf ears. I really wanted to talk about the Vick dogs, all the Pits that are therapy dogs etc.....

Then, she started coming down on Labrador retrievers... The poor vet tech looked at me and had the "I am so sorry look". The tech tried to relay positive things about Labs, but well I had had enough.

I excused myself to the restroom and left the building.

Looking back and writing this out, again having to put myself in the owners shoes, I come to see that she has had only negative experiences with the breed. And well, if that is all she has to go on, then that is where this is coming from....She is entitled to her opinion. I just wish she would see it is the owners responsibility not a whole breed of dog.

So now I need to really search my heart and decide what to do. I love my vet and her office - I really really do. But do I support someone who is so closed minded -that hates the breed to the point that she wants them exterminated? The anger in her face as she talked about her hate was unbelievable. Call me paranoid - but what happens if I have to leave Maddie at the vet for a procedure? Can I trust Miss Maddie to be safe? I know that is a far out there paranoid thought but still., Something I must ponder

Or do I stay and show her how awesome Maddie is - how loving and obedient - the opposite of her experiences . But then we all know Miss Maddie - she isn't the best ambassador for the breed when it comes to other animals. Could Miss Maddie show this woman not all Pit Bulls are evil - at least in the HA sense. I don't think so since her issue is with the DA part of the breed.

Most importantly, Would it even make a difference ????