Section 75 - Vets

Ms_Chocaholic

What were the extent of your dog's injuries and how many legs were broken? When you say he couldn't walk normally on all 4 legs does that mean more than one leg was broken.

Ms_Chocaholic

Do you have legal cover on your home insurance, I wonder if you will be covered to get some legal advice.  I'm not sure but just putting this out there and hopefully someone will know more and advise further.

sheramber

Home insurance legal cover may be of help.

Be aware that if you sue the vet it will probably be passed to his liability insurance company who you will up against so if legal help is available on your contents insurance it might be prudent to use it.

I suppose it is possible that the dog caught its leg on the bars of the kennel but released itself without anybody seeing it.

born_again

kangaroo67 said:

He was unable to walk normally on all four legs. It was obvious there was an issue (to me). 

Going to play devils advocate here.. This is not a reflection on you 👍

Did you not notice when they brought your dog (which breed?) out or straight after leaving vets? As I could see them saying it was fine when it left. Or have they admitted it happened in their care. 
If they have admitted it happened in their care, then they do not have a leg to stand on (sorry for the pun) and should not be putting up a fight.

cx6

On the vet's side - just for balance - I am sure if they had known the leg was broken they would have said.

My guess is that the dog caught itself on the cage it was undoubtedly kept in whilst on IV and simply no one noticed.

Manxman_in_exile

sheramber said:

...I suppose it is possible that the dog caught its leg on the bars of the kennel but released itself without anybody seeing it.

cx6 said:

My guess is that the dog caught itself on the cage it was undoubtedly kept in whilst on IV and simply no one noticed.

I'll freely admit to knowing absolutely nothing about dogs - or vets - but it seems rather odd to me that either of the above should be possible or even be allowed to happen?

If a dog can injure itself to the extent of breaking a leg by catching itself on the bars of its kennel or cage, surely that shows that the cage is badly designed and/or the dogs are not being monitored properly while under the vet's supervision?

If I brought my car into a garage and it ended up being damaged because the garage were using faulty equipment, that wouldn't absolve the garage of liability, would it?

I'm surprised nobody at the vets noticed the dog had a broken leg.

But of course we don't know what actually happened...

cx6

The cages at my local vets are just vertical bars spaced 4-6 inches apart, but I agree it is strange they did not notice the dog was walking badly when they bough the dog out to be collected.

However, the OP didn't immediately notice either.

Alderbank

sheramber said:

 Has he reported the vet to the  RCVS?

From his post he has gone straight to the bank without trying any other avenue.

Has the OP answered this question?
The RCVS takes professional negligence issues very seriously.
Citizens Advice says ' If you can’t solve the problem through your vet’s complaints procedure, you can contact the Veterinary Client Mediation Service - they’re impartial and free to use.' This is an independent legal service funded by RCVS so no cost to you.
The vet's practice is obliged to accept the findings of the VCMS. However you are not and you could still take further legal action.

ETA: Apologies, I have just seen that the OP has answered this question. The RCVS can order the practice to pay compensation.
If you take this to court, the court would expect you to have gone through the RCVS's mediation service first.

Alderbank

cx6 said:

...it is strange they did not notice the dog was walking badly when they bough the dog out to be collected.

However, the OP didn't immediately notice either.

One of our dogs needed a minor operation during lockdown. He was still groggy from the anaesthetic when they carried him to the door from where I carried him to my car. He was wobbly for a day or so afterwards. We would probably not have noticed immediately that he was not walking as usual.

sheramber

it is quite easy for a breed with fine bones to break a leg easily. Whippets , for example and some small breeds.

A  yank could be enough. 
Dogs in recovery are not watched every minute of the day. The nurses have other patients to attend to so a dog would be checked at regular intervals. 

 I once collected a dog with bleeding gums as she had been chewing at the bars. My vet did point it out to me. I did not blame the vet but no treatment was necessary.

if you want individual personal attention go to someone like the super vet and pay his prices.

However the OP thinks he has proof of what happened as negligence which he doesn't  share so we are in the dark as to what happened. or when.