charities for help with vet bills?

belladonna123

old post but thought it warranted answering. Green moneysaver makes excellent points but also PDSA is a charity governed by an act of parliament and not just whatever it decides itself. So that's why it can only register people on HB/CTB at present in most branches but there are other things such as helping with the hope project for people who are homeless, pensioners are usually able to be helped in some way even if not for everything and a new centre at Margate is trialling concession work i.e. people who just fall outside the HB/CTB rule so they do understand but can only do so much so quickly. Read their Paw report to get an idea of what needs to be dealt with, read how many animals and treatments were done by them last year. It costs approx 60 million a year to run all the services. Sadly reading the info in the centres not everyone contributes to the service (its not 'free' its by contribution of what you can afford) so it puts huge pressure on the charity's income to cover the services.
Remember irrelevant of a persons ability to pay for vet costs they are ultimately responsible for any pets they have.
PS all vets have a duty of care to give emerg tx if needed irrelevant of a person's ability to pay but sadly some private vets will not honour this fully

cainetully

Yeah but it most definitely is a shame especially like you said they depend on donations... My dog was poisoned. When you have a fit and healthy dog You never presume it could be poisoned on behalf of some local neighbour putting anti freeze in the bread in the area let alone your dog will be poisoned at all.. and he is only two! Unluckily, it happened just before we were about to get him insured. I am on a minimum wage and when I went to the vets they told me I would be forking out over grand for the first night and £500 every following night. I was desperate but couldn't afford that much all at once. So they told me my best bet was the RSPCA. When I arrived I was surprised that nobody was in the waiting room this is because they are not even accepting new patients and I was turned down because I don't receive benefit when i cried and told them he would die they remarked behind a glassed off area that from what they saw it didn't look that bad and I could pay for and emergency check up but otherwise would be sent away. In a very un-lucky but fortunate way my dog then had paralyses in the body and began to quiver unable to walk.. otherwise they would have sent me away, they also state once they stabilise your pet in an emergency meaning he's not better only able to walk you have to go elsewhere . Any way I paid for all the treatment which costed £200. Now to me this is a reasonalble price compared to previously. However I would urge anyone who could afford pet insurance before their pet got sick, do so because it will greatly benefit you if something does happen. But again its almost shaming when you fall between category lines I was made to feel at the rspca like I either had to be on benefits or super rich to own a pet, which is pretty damning (not on purpose - as I'm sure they get many people requesting the same help and taking use of their facilities). Anyway best bet is insure you pet as soon as you can!