Letters to the Editor 7-7-16

Vet vetting
Editor:
On the night of July 3, my wife and I were driving home from the movies as the Windsor fireworks began to start. We started talking about dogs getting loose after being scared by the loud explosions when all of a sudden a dog was in the path of our car on Arata Lane in Windsor. I hit the brakes and swerved, barely missing her. My wife opened her door and called to her and she came to us and we took her home. She was shaking and obviously scared. We cared for her that night and introduced her to our dogs. The next day we placed a post on Facebook and put signs up and down Arata Lane with our contact information. Unfortunately, I then did what I felt was the responsible thing to do, bring her to a vet to see if she had a microchip. I say unfortunately, because it was July 4 and the only vet open was the Pet Care East Veterinarian on Mendocino Avenue. Unknown to me at the time, Pet Care East had recently made an agreement with the County Animal Shelter to seize all dogs brought in as strays and hand them over to the shelter. I brought this dog in, who fully trusted me to take care of her, to try and find her owners.
Instead I was suckered by a bait and switch maneuver at the vet. They brought someone who took the dog before handing me a form telling me that they were taking the dog. I complained and they basically said I had no choice. Essentially, I was forced to give up the dog without consent, and allow her to be placed into a system that suffers from overcrowding and euthanasia issues. Please don’t bring any stray dogs to this vet if you don’t want to be forced to surrender them.
Jeff Church
Windsor