Join in the debate on It Shouldn't Happen at a Vets'

I hope this programme isn't scaremongering. Though it's entire publicity seems to be "Shock! Horror! What happens to YOUR animals behind the closed doors?!" I trust Panorama to be fair to the subject and remind us that this may not be the case at every veterinary practice.

I will also comment after the programme.

My dogs are my world, they sleep in my bed with me and are spoilt more than my husband - i am lucky as I know my vets are fantastic and to see the way my dog runs to see his vet when he comes into the waiting to see him tells me everything! I am so disgusted these people we trust with the ones we love could do such disgusting, cruel and evil things to innocent and in most cases, terrified animals who are in pain and need more love than ever. I just hope the people caught in these films are prosecuted and made an example of.

I look forward to seeing the programme and the way it is presented but as a vet have some concern about how sensationalist this is likely to be.

Like all professions we are not immune from 'rogue traders' but these are by far the exception rather than the rule. Most vets will be as horrified as members of the public to see animal welfare compromised as that is at the heart of what we strive for each day.

I hope that Panorama present their findings in an appropriate way, allow the right to reply of those concerned and don't jump to conclusions and tar the entire profession with the same brush.

I welcome an increased transparency within veterinary practices and I am happy to allow clients complete exposure to anything that is required with their pets.

Above all I would like to reassure people that the majority of vets are hard working people who put the care of your pets at the top of their priority list. By all means talk to your vet about your concerns but do not jump to conclusions based on this programme.

this is terrifying, if they were doing this to children there would be riots but as its animals no one cares. I have four animals and they cost me a fortune, i would sell everything i own to make them happy, and then you these sickos who exploit our love. Disgusting. Will anything change? will anything happen, i doubt it, people care more about the X Factor than they do about rising and protesting.

That poor dog with the throat infection, the dog who got hit. awful, sick, cruel, venemous and machiavellian practices and is it any wonder, i complained to the BBC before about Spring watch when they showed birds fighting but they came up with the "its nature" argument, what a load, it just proves that we can try and love something but at the end of the day we are seen as saps who spend money on animals that are considered rubbish and money makers.

How can society change its view when animal cruelty is portrayed all over TV and nothing gets done? Awful just awful, Medivet you should be ashamed, i hope someone abuses you when you cant do anything about it and no one believes you, i hope it smarts i really do.

Sick. I cant even think of a word. Panorama i hope you are not just being sensational, i hope you will do everything to bring these monsters to justice!

Dear Panorama,

I am shocked by the programme on vetinary practices that obviously are not fit to treat animals, but at the same time I feel passionately about speaking up for some Medivet vets. I used the Medivet branch in Hounslow when living there for five years and I was always very impressed by the vet there. What I am watching would not happen there I feel sure. I hope that is true of many other Medivets too.

I’m totally horrified by the programme, but confirm’s what I have felt about some vets for some time. I put my dog into a vet in Newcastle-upon-Tyne with multiple sites . During a routine procedure at a estimated cost of around £250 the final bill came in at £1500. The vet even admitted that he had looked up a treatment on-line to rectify a complication he had caused, 6 weeks went by and 3 operations, only to be notified they had filled the insurance form in wrong and missed a further £280 worth of treatment which I need to settle. Some vets are ripp-off merchants and clearly not looking after our pets, shame on you.

I am a head Nurse in a private Vet Surgery in East Yorks. I am horrified at the scenes that have been filmed and would like to stress that it is not like this in normal practice! I am glad that Panorama pointed this out. It is frightening that some surgeries let their staff behave like this. Yes, some animals need restraining, but if done properly, it can be less stressful than the animal panicking

I do not agree with the corporate Vet clinic. They do all appear to be in it for the money. Although, private practices can be jsut as bad. There is one local to me which is as bad as Medivet is looking to be. I really do hope the public will not brand us all the same,

I think that it highlights the problem of having chains that are not monitored properly, however I think that it needs to be said that not all practices are like this. My fiancee has just graduated as a veterinary nurse and works for a different chain and would never allow this type of service to happen as she is pationate and supervised although she is fully trained and registered. I know that the training she has been given has equipped her to make the right decisions and to look after the animals with love and care and has earnt the right to wear the badge of trainee veterinary nurse, while at University, and as a Trained Veterinary nurse now she is qualified and it is disgraceful that this effort is mocked by people being allowed to wear the same badge without actually being sworn onto the RCVS register.

Im mortified at these scenes from within medivet practices. the scene with the cat being sedated actually made me cry. its appalling that trainees are allowed to actually carry out practices on animals that arent allowed and its definately appalling at how they treat the animals and think its funny while also being hypocrites in saying they would not be happy if somehow treat their pet like that ! so glad panarama brought this up too show the public. i cannot believe this is atually happening and certain vets let this happen. shame on you !

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Shocked and appalled at this programme, gives good vets a bad name, this is BY FAR the most distressing thing i have ever watched. Just hope to god the vets i send my cats to is more caring and professional, although i will not trust them as much anymore unfortunately

OMG, I am so glad I live in the North and MediVet aren't in our area. Its disgusting.

I worked in a vets for four years before coming to my most recent job and never in those four years did i witness anything as cruel,abusive and upsetting as i have in this programme.Not once did any of the vets or nurses treat an animal the way that i have seen in this footage.It makes me feel physically ill how these people see the need to treat the animals this way.I hope that the public's reaction following this programme is enough to enable this company and its employee's to carry on practicing.

I think it is great that Panorama have spent time investigating this subject. I am half way through watching this programme and as a dog owner i am horrified at the behaviour and treatment of the animals in this programme so far. I do not agree with Panorama in that no dogs have been treated cruely. The manner in which the poor dog whose leg was amputated was handled does, i believe amount to cruelty and the police and RSPCA should be asked to investigate this incident. I would suggest that the Royal College of Vets need to get a firm grip !

In my opinion, this is just another scaremongering programme I'm afraid, designed to spoil the reputation of veterinary practices across the board. While, like every business institution there are 'bad eggs', people often after watching this sort of programme brand all practices within the same league.
Working within a fully transparent veterinary practice with pet loving, like-minded staff (also being pet owners themselves)it bitterly disappoints me to think that our clients could unfoundedly lose their trust in us by watching something like this.
While I agree with a previous comment regarding the fact that offenders should be brought to justice, I'm sure it doesn't need a programme like this - 'reality TV' style to deal with those concerned.

Just got a gorgeous baby boy a month ago - he is my life.

This documentary is a disgrace. This company should be shut down. @isolated case@ is defo not an excuse - these people should not be in business

Sad documentary

Sad day

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I am watching this program as i write this and have to say i am appauled at the way the staff treat the animals and their owners. I would be most distressed if i felt my animals were treated in this way at my local vet. It would also appear that Medivet are profiteering from some of their patients. They must think we all fell off last years christmas tree if they think we believe their statements, they and some off the staff in this program should be ashamed. It puts the whole of the vetinary profession in a bad light, which is a real shame as there are a lot of good vets.

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I'm am completely disgusted by what is happening in this programme. I take my cat to a privately run vet with a small number of staff and therefore, you know who will be carrying out anything on your pet beforehand. However, it is still very scary that these things can happen - you just don't know. I always believed that people would want to become a vet or work in a veterinary surgery due to their love of animals, but some of these people being shown on this programme clearly do not have any cares in the world, except ''get the job done'', whether this is achieved by causing animals pain or fear. No one should have to settle for bad treatment of their pets, especially when they are then having to pay for it afterwards. I can say for sure I will never take any pets to a MediVet Centre as I do not feel that they monitor their staff closely enough and they only seem to exist to make money.

I am watching this programe with complete discust. All the nurses and vets (not Alex) within this firm should be banned for LIFE with working with animals.

As an animal loving country why is this being allowed to happen? We would all go mad if we treated the old like a piece of meat, or mistreated and abused them, so why do people feel they can degrade these poor poor pets that are loved.

I for one will never take any of my animals to one of there centres, to them it seems money is more important than the health and well being of any living creature.

They discuss me and I hope others will feel the same.

"medivet" i will never use these people, can not believe how disgusting they are. Treating animals in the way they are is unbelieveable!!!!!! these people should be sacked and never allowed to work with animals again. Thank you panorama for bring this to our attention and hopefully people will take notice.

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As a pet owner and have no children i consider my 2 dogs as my children and what i have just witnessed on this progamme is absolutley discusting and desturbing. I don't use medivet and i never will having just watched this programme. The bit that most disturbed me was the cat been sedated then waited one and a half hours to prep the cat for surgery and been treated like a "RAGDOLL" which i am sure this could have caused serious injury then they continued to laugh and joke around like they was in a playground. you certainly would not see that been done to us before surgery so it certainly shouldn't happen to our pets. i do hope further action will be taken to prevent this happening in the future.
thank you to panorama for there great work and continue to do so.

Medivet should be ashamed if themsleves.

The Animal Blood Register offers a free service to owners and vets alike where volunteer dog blood donors and cat blood donors can register - when a vet needs a blood donation they simply log into the website and search for a donor in their area.

It's a non profit project backed by one of the UK's leading veterinary hospitals. It's entirely within the law as no blood is placed in storage.

http://www.DogBloodDonors.com

http://www.CatBloodDonors.com

http://www.AnimalBloodRegister.com

I strongly urge anyone with a pet to register and help vets save pet lives.

Ok, some of these actions were bad, but most of the issue concerned one bad vet. Hardly worth tarring the whole company with the same brush

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I think the BBC has blown this out of all proportion. Aprt from the struck off vet and the petulant nurse who slapped the dog, there is nothing here that seems disproportionate or inappropriate. MEdivet is ful of caring, professionals who have the animals well being as their hightest priority.

I am tottally shocked by what i saw, for obviouse reasons - but on a personal note, i am REALLY Worried - one of the 'nurses' featured looked, sounded and had the same 1st name as a new 'nurse' that has started at the practise where my dog is registerd. The locations are also similar, and i would be devistated if this girl had anything to do with my dog. Does anyone know if i could find out the 2nd name, or get confirmation if i give a full name (either a yes or no) to who this person is?

I have just seen the panorama programme about medivet and found it absolutely appaling!! The staff shown in the programme that were handling the animals in such a way should be sacked, never mind being bloody promoted. I cannot express my true feelings on the matter as my post will not be shown due to inappropriate language.

The issues raised by this programme are not thankfully relevant to most of our vet practices. Medivet is run in a different way to independent practices and the Royal College should have looked at their sharp operating practices years ago and prevented them from giving the profession a bad name. Yes there are always rogues in every profession, unfortunately this roguie happens to be more of a large family.

GOBSMACKED. Now that I've finished crying and can string a sentence together may I say I am full of hatred for these people. How dare they inflict pain, punishment and discomfort on these animals. I just wish I could do the same to them. If youre employed by Medivet you should seek alternative employment without delay and if youre one of those featured in the programme who are guilty of these sick acts then you don't deserve a career. Shame on you.

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That was shocking and appauling! We trust these professionals to care for our beloved pets and this is what happens! Granted that this disgusting behaviour does not happen in all vets but it should NEVER happen in the first place!

Thank you Panorama for this documentary,and thank you Alex.

PS - for those that do not treat animals with the care they deserve - one word to you... KARMA!!

I am truly upset by the programme i have just watched, and not for the reasons you may think.

I am a Registered Veterinary Nurse and very proud of my profession and qualification. I worked exceptionally hard to get to where i am and every day i do the best by my patients.

Yes, some of the things displayed in the programme were awful, and i would not let them happen within my team. Changes need to be made and these items should be addressed. However, some things were just mis-construde and totally mis-represented.


One major point that was skimmed over, is that we are constantly at a disadvantage that we cannot explain to our patients what is happening to them. Therefore, they may very well become distressed at what's happening. We get through this by knowing we are doing the best by them and persevering. We CANNOT stop the procedure because in the long run if we do, the next time we try, the animal will be worse to handle. This is why clients cannot see these scenes because it is distressing, but needs to be done. Of course, there are still right ways and wrong ways, but showing a client footage of their pet distressed is always going to provide the sensationalised response you were after.

When it was stated that 'the head nurse instructed that the anaesthesia be deepened' in a negative way, i was truly upset. The point surely should be that the RCVS should acknowledge RVNs fully and allow us to do what we've been trained to do. I work very closely with my vets, and we've struck a relationship of trust where they know i am very experienced in anaesthesia and can make this call. If i have any doubt in my mind i ask their advice at once and great teams are built because of it.

I am desperate for someone to acknowledge the work good veterinary nurses do. We truly care, and do so much everyday to ensure our patients get the best care possible. I am concerned by the trend starting with these large corporates, but please don't tarnish us all with this brush.

The RCVS in due for a major overhaul and i hope it does come. But please, not at the cost of the title 'Registered Veterinary Nurse'.

I am more than happy to answer any question anyone reading this has. Like i said, i'm proud of what i do.

It's so upsetting because you put your trust in the vet treating your pet and you don't ever know what happens behind the scenes at any veterinary practice.
I'd like to think the treatment shown in this programme is extremely rare and that most vets are alot more caring and professional.
I think i'll trust the judgement of my cats who seem to really enjoy visiting our vets. They can't be bad

i HAVE JUST WATCHED THE PROGRAMME ON VETS AND AM REALLY SHOCKED TO SEE THIS TREATMENT OF MUCH LOVED PETS IS MORE WIDESPREAD. i ALSO LOST MY DOG AFTER A ROUTINE SPAY OPERATION RESULTED IN MY DOGS INTESTINES COMMING OUT OF HER ABDOMEN THROUGH VETS NEGLIGENCE TO WHICH MY CHILDREN ALSO SADLY WITNESSED , I FEAR WE WILL NEVER RECOVER FROM THE ORDEAL

As a vet I am angered and upset with your documentary. I feel the veterinary profession has been made to look selfish and uncaring which is most definatly not the case. I can fully assure you that this programme does not represent the majortity of vets who are hard working individuals, commited to animal care and welfare. People do not become a vet for high salarys as there are many far less stressful jobs that pay far far more, they do it as a vocation for job satisfaction. The few 'cruel' acts shown such as scruffing a cat and restraining a dog are needed techniques to administer treatments as unfortunatly you cant explain to an animal it needs to sit still.
I hope after watching this people still keep faith in their vets, as they do genuinaly care about the wellbeing of pets. Though the bills can seem high clients need to realise pets are expensive and unfortuanatly the is no 'NHS' for pets.

This is TOTALLY unacceptable, how dare they! For many of us, our animal is like our child and very precious. When they are away from us, their comfort zone and feeling scared, they need much reassurance and to be treated with dignity and kindness as they would get at home. With the cost of vet bills, it is one of the bare minimum levels of service that we expect. Why on earth do these people work in this field? We are starting to look more into child care practices, but for the elderly and our animals, there is still a lot to be regulated and changed to protect them. Many of those with bad practices such as this, it is all about money for the practice owners and is a job which is nothing short of being a 'PAID BULLY' for those who treat ANY vulnerable animal or person in this way. When mistreating an animal (or person) and thinking it's funny and laughing like that sickens me to the core. It is A FACT that those who mistreat animals are often less compassionate, and in extreme cases of cruelty, it is an early warning sign of far more malicious crimes. When I meet people, I often ask them if they are an animal lover - it tells me a lot! Thank God, we have a brilliant vet in South London called Paxtons. They always give us options and advise that they could undertake a procedure, the cost and whether they think it's worth it. All the care staff are so fantastic and deeply care for all our family animals, even remembering them fondly after they have died. They have great open days, making everyone feel involved, especially children. We see exactly where our animals go after we entrust them them into their care, show what equipment is used and how, best of all the owner also has her family (Mum, Dad, Brother) attend and we can clearly see the genuine sincerity and passion! Nearly 4 years after we should have lost our Dog, she is still here, getting old but very happy - we know if we had taken her elsewhere, we would have lost her. 11m after losing my Dad, 1m after losing our Cat, they were not going to let her go too without a fight as long as she could still have a quality of life, my Mum is SO grateful (as we all are). I lost my little cat last year and they were so fantastic, we discussed before I left her that if it was bad news, not to bring her around from anaesthetic for just a few weeks to make me feel better. The Vet and Owner phone me half way through surgery to check and discuss the situation. They get to know us as a family and our circumstances. SO, please don't be scared off from taking your animals to a vet, you just need to check them out. See what community involvement they have and when you phone to make an appointment, if they recognise your animals name and are instantly concerned and talk about them, also how long the staff have been there - these are good signs to look out for. We would never go anywhere else, and have told our vet she can't either!! There are some really good vets out there, you just need to do a little research, as you would if it were your child you were entrusting into someone else’s care.

I was deeply upset to see how some of the animals were treated by Medi-Vet staff. Being a vet and veterinary nurse has been long established as a noble and trustworthy profession and it's a real shame that trust in vets has probably diminished as a result of the programme. Not only did Panorama expose scenes of mistreatment but also of utter dishonesty. To deliberately try to swindle an old man out of money for a dog that was already dying is totally unforgivable. At least justice was served in this case. Also, am I the only person that felt Medi-Vet came off totally faceless and uncaring? For me, their statements did not show an organisation that wanted to reform or improve practice processes - there was just a legally revised excuse for everything.

But, back to my point - I think vets can still be trusted - I use my local vet who has always been caring towards my cat and fair in what they charge and I would still trust them with my beloved animal. I can think of so many examples when vets have done wonderful things. For example, when my grandmother's dog, Welly became gravely ill on New Year's Day, a local vet and veterinary visited her home immediately. Her and my grandad were devastated and both were in tears. Not only did the vet treat Welly with the utmost care and affection, she comforted my grandparents and didn't charge them a penny.

Whilst the images of what we have just seen are distressing and unforgivable, there are many noble and trustworthy vets and their reputation should not be diminished because of this. I think I will always avoid chain veterinary clinics and stick to my local, standalone practice.

this programme showed medi vet to be an almost entirely dispicible vetinary organisation. although there were a few people who seemed to care about the welfare of the animals in there care they seemed far to weak to stand up against those mainiplative cruel beings.
i cannot believe an organisation who is supposed to care and work for the welfare of animals can actually stand by and let people like the vetinary managers run these practices.

it makes me feel sick to know people like that take advantage of people who cannot afford to go else where and only want the best for there animals, i really hope drastic actions are taken to heavily fine and shut down several medicare practices, and im sure many people would stick up against medivet. my family has six dogs and six cats and many other fury creatures and we would go to the end of the world for them and our very lucky to have a trusted rural vet whose looked after them from the start. im still sickened to belive this kind of thing is exposed and no further action appears to be happening. i would love to be contacted if anything is being carried out against these cruel sick 'vets'

i have just watched this under cover programme and feel that it has portrayed the veterinary profession in a bad light. I agree that the vet deserved to be struck off. But other then that the programme made out it to be worse then it was. I am a qualified veterinarey nurse myself and i obviously don't agree with any harm to any animal, but as part of our job we have to restrain animals to carry out procedure such as veinapuncture i admit it doesn't look nice but animals don't understand what is being carried out and most animals wont willingly sit there for a procedure to be carried out, staff members have to think of themselves and the animals regarding health and safety if animals aren't restrained properly they can cause more harm to themselves and to staff members. in any profession students have to learn practically i do agrre that a qualified members of staff sould be present to ensure the job is done properly but i felt sorry for the trainee nurses in this film and they were only doing as they were told. i agree that i the flim some staff did do thinngs which aren't justified. but the undercover reporter shouldnt of carried out the tasks when asked if she didn't feel she was confident or qualified enough to carry out the task its a rule of thumb. i just wnat people to know that not all veterinary practices are like that, we all work very hard for our qualifiecations, we do this job for the love of animals not money, nurses are over worked and underpaid we do it for the love of the job and to ensure that all animals are looked after. like the film said there was no cruelty to animals seen.

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Well I'm fairly sure we all know that the programme would always show anything that is or looks bad rather than showing all the brilliant caring behaviour that occurs across most practices. That wouldn't get viewers now would it?
However I was shocked at the behaviour of two trainees. As a registered and qualified nurse I would never allow a trainee to carry out any medical procedures without the supervision of at least a qualified nurse. Trainees registered on official courses need to learn how to do certain things but should never ever be done without supervision.
There is a nationwide shortage of qualified nurses which does not help the situation.
I hope that people realise that Panorama has shown very poor practice that does not occur everywhere. Myself and anyone who I have worked with only EVER have the pets best interest at heart.

This IS sensational journalism, but it also shows awful veterinary practice, and poor animal welfare.

I am a vet and am myself horrified by the scenarios shown by the film...
HOWEVER, this kind of behaviour is rare, and I have never experienced anything like this in my ten years of training and practicing as a vet.

Most vets and nurses are also pet owners and animal lovers themselves, and that is why we go into the profession. I am extremely proud of the nurses I work with - they are professional, kind and considerate towards the animals, and GENUINELY have the animals' best interests at heart. They also work long hours for little thanks/pay. A properly run practice does not put trainee nurses in a situation that requires them to do anything they are not fully qualified to do.

The nurses I work with certainly do NOT deserve to be tainted with the same brush as this program has created, and nor do most vets. I would be so ashamed to even work with (let alone be!) a vet like those shown on this program. I would never dream of deceiving my clients (or their insurance company).

Being a vet is hard work. Anyone who thinks they can do better is welcome to try. I work hard and put myself under a great deal of pressure to be the very BEST vet I can be. I sleep well at night knowing I am doing this and have my patients' and clients' interests at heart. It saddens me to think people seeing this program will think it reflects the whole profession. It certainly does NOT.

our excellent vets have been bought by medivet in coventry. Our vets are leaving one after the other, which will leave one that I trust without question,who is part time.
I want to put on record for when one of the partners reads this, which i've no doubt they will(I have met one of the partners),that I was disgusted and appalled by alot of panorama tonight. I expect that male nurse to be dismissed, and others treating the animals in an undignified mannor to be disciplined. If I ever find out that one of my many cats has not been treated with respect and by a fully experienced vet, I promise to God that I will make sure that person never goes near another animal.
We,as pet owners and animal lovers,need to start acting on information like this to stop multi corperations buying up our local vets.
Practise with your feet if you have a good alternative. We need action to stop ill and undignified treatment occurring. We know that we are often now ripped off price wise, and make no mistake people, this will get worse as these corps. continue until every vet is a member of one.
Vets Now shows us alittle of what happens when the market is controlled by one company. Sky high prices, with no choice of who could better treat our animal.

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It is telling how many comments have been removed because it broke the house rules.
I'm glad to see vetandy supporting my comment with his: "I hope that Panorama present their findings in an appropriate way, allow the right to reply of those concerned and don't jump to conclusions and tar the entire profession with the same brush."
Alex was a trainee as opposed to a student nurse - so what she was allowed to do was very limited. Student nurses (enrolled on a course with RCVS) have to learn how to place a catheter, tube an animal for anaesthesia and many other things but always under supervision of a qualified nurse or vet because these are practical skills and need practice. You don't become qualified and wake up the next morning fully capable and skilled at doing this. She was also not a trainee veterinary nurse as only people enrolled on the RCVS NVQ Veterinary Nursing course or have qualified after the RCVS exams are entitled to call themselves veterinary nurses, trainees or otherwise.
Cost : Student nurses don't get paid very much, a trainee's salary was not mentioned by Alex, it costs a lot to train a student nurse as the RCVS demand a lot. So you can see why vets will have unqualified staff. But please don't read unqualified as unskilled, there are many nurses with many years experience that are in some cases better than the qualified nurse of 1 year.
Money drives us all, the UK could not afford an NHS for pets. But for some practices it seems money is more important.

The content of this programme should be praised for its exposure of the shocking callous behvaviour of some digusting individuals who for some sick reasons think that adding to the pain or causing pain tothe animals in "their care" is somehow acceptable or even clever. These thick trainees on a power trip have no thought or compassion of how the animal they are mishandling is suffering is unbeliveable cruel and evil. I hope Panorama will pursue this issue as much as they can to stop this gross practice continuing and get these people out of animal welfare. Well done BBC for daring to speak out!

I have just watched ‘It Shouldn’t Happen at a Vet’s’ documentary. As an animal lover I was appalled at the treatment of some of these animals by unqualified nurses and the vets themselves who let these nurses carry out procedures. After seeing this programme I would never take my pets to Medivet. The programme also raises doubts about the integrity of other practices around the country, vets profiting enormously from sick animals and their trusting owners.
Thank you to Panorama, and the lady who went undercover to expose this veterinary malpractice.

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I am awaiting our comments to be moderated but have read some of the others.From our experience this is not a "scaremongering programme" or "sensationalistic journalism". We have experience of a local vet who we have complained about to the RCVS. Many other distressed pet owners have contacted us and our local newspaper who have also used this vet.

Nothing surprising there then.

Having dealt with a few feral cats in my time, I've had to grab the first part of the poor cat that I could.
Of course, a bit of a worry that inexperienced staff were left to do things they shouldn't - but then I've seen some young vets who are pretty clueless as well! Its so hard now to find a good reliable vet practice that also operates its own out of hours service.

Corporate vets overcharge and suggest useless expensive procedures which won't help the animal (no shock there). The RCVS cannot do anything to regulate companies (chocolate teapots).

I've been campaigning against "vets now" for ages for similar things and now have over 1000 signatures on my online petition but no one wants to know, we have some very sad stories on there....


Unfortunately, those of us that will be worried about this will be the good pet owners - the ones that feel the price of vet care is now too expensive to afford having pets. Insurance premiums will continue to escalate until that is also not an affordable option.
Those that can't afford it or don't care will carry on as they do now, allowing their animals to breed for a quick buck and abandoning them when things go wrong or just letting the animals 'get over it'.
Rescues like ourselves will be forced to close as we cannot find the money to continue.

As usual the animals will suffer.

Sorry, some more comments. I am now writing as a very experienced ex. senior nurse.
We should always be acting as advocates for our animals, in much the same way as parents do for their child. When animals are in the care of a charity, then the advocation applies to the trustees and managers of the charity. Watching the greyhounds being given up for the taking of their blood,I found particularly distastful,given that a profit was made out of it. Where were their advocates? This is abuse which could be likened to prison camps.
Parents can now be with their children for most if not all of their proceedures now. They can be present during a cariac arrest and can,if requested, watch in operating theatres behind glass.
As it now seems that the only person we can trust with our pet is ourselves, we ought to be demanding that the same curtesy is given to us. We being their advocate.

As a practising vet I feel it is extremely important that poor practice is exposed. Without a doubt there have been issues raised this evening which deserve attention. Alex however has only criticised but not been constructive. i thought that the staff concerned in the main sounded very caring but sometimes found their patients less than 100% cooperative. That's life. We all know that some animals for whatever reason are very difficult to handle and for their safety and ours it is not always possible to avoid some firm handling. I would never condone hitting any patient under any circumstances. You must however remember that animals cannot be sedated by remote control.
I firmly condemn profiteering and during a career of over 20 years I can honestly say I have never taken advantage of any insurance firm.
Perhaps Alex could give credit to Medivet's standard practice of having a preplaced catheter for any anaesthetic procedure. Many practices do not. Many practices also have no trained nurses whatsoever - perhaps Alex could look into that. Every trainee nurse costs a practice thousands of pounds every year in college fees and also in paying the qualified staff to give supervision and portfolio help. The pet owning public have to finance this if they wish trained staff to care for their animals as I know they do. They would also be very surprised to learn what average salaries for nurses and veterinary assistants are. Equipping a practice costs serious money.
I do not work for Medivet and have never have. I do feel that tonight they have been "stitched up" on tabloid TV. They have been represented as overworking cases and perhaps in some cases shown that is true. Tabloid as I said. On the other hand, we must all recommend "best practice" or we are at fault. Blanket treatment with antibiotics is bad practice. Easy, accepted, but bad. I'm guilty.
Most pet owners I have come to know value a personal relationship based on trust and mutual respect. This is independent of any corporate practice and is beyond price. Pet owners of Britain - you never cease to impress me and amaze me every day with your dedication. Thank you.

This programme has given me hope that I'm not alone. My particular story is being moderated as we speak so unsure whether it will get posted. Really hope it does as my plight with Medivet has been both emotionally and financially draining. All I'll say here is that what I saw in the programme is reprsentative of the my personal experiences with Medivet.

I am somewhat concerned that 'disgusted11', a qualified vet apparently, was so impatient and incensed after only 5 minutes (see time of his blog - 9.34pm - actually only 4 minutes after the programme started) that he broke off his viewing to post his comments without watching the rest of the programme.

I take issue with some (if not all!) of his comments, especially as they were posted so early on in the programme.

For example, quite the opposite of 'disgusted''s point of view that 'this is all they had to show for it', what the undercover filming showed shouldn't be happening at all, anywhere, under any circumstances, let alone on an often-enough basis to fill a one hour programme regardless of whether it took nine months, nine days or nine years!

And of course cats and dogs struggle - they're hurt and scared - but a trained professional should know how to handle them gently to allow a sedative to be properly administered. I can understand urgency and the need to put treatment ahead of gentleness in some emergency cases (I was brought up on a farm and many of our cows' lives were saved by less than gentle vets doing what they had to do under the different circumstances!). But I couldn't see any legitimate reasons for any of the heavy-handed treatment being doled out in this programme.

Much of the point of the programme was showing that un-trained people are doing jobs they should not be doing.

To say, as 'disgusted' does, "As a vet, we are exceptionally busy and everyone must work together", is not the point. If this gentleman went into hospital, would he be happy being manhandled by healthcare assistants trying to give him sedation. I can't help feeling that he would quick to complain in a much noisier way than most of the pets we saw on the programme!

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There was another incident that i think bears scrutiny. At one point a nurse divides a clients charges between three claims on an insurance claim. This was clearly not acceptable but again you can see that the vet was probably working from good, if misguided, motives. If all the charges had been put on one condition, the client's insurance policy would have been maxed out and they'd have to pay the excess. The vet was trying to help the client at the expense of the insurance company.

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I was most disstressed watching the horrific acts which you have highlighted in this programme. I have been going to Medivet at Kingsbury branch for many many years, in fact Mr Levy was the very first vet I saw with my animals when the surgery was taken over by Medivet. I have fallen fowl of practices by the Medivet Hospital in Hendon. In 2003 myself and my family had a beautiful greyhound called Blue. He was with us at home for about 1 year befor he became very ill. Within 24 hours of him being a boisterous bouncy boy he went to a dog who could not even lift himself of the floor. We took him to Medivet Hendon as an emergency one Sunday in June 2003. They immediately admitted him. We had no quote given to us but Blue was very very ill. We knew that. Medivet told us he had a viral illness. On examination they found a lump in the testis. He was also had a wheeze and they did a chest xray which showed three golf ball sized tumors. We were told he needed his testis removed and the lung tumors were believed to be begnine. After the testis were removed the following day we got him home with a number of medications and a bill for over 2000,00. This was such a shock as we just did not have that sort of money. All through the week we kept on telling them that this dog was not insured as he was an ex racer but this made no difference. After I argued with the head vet he knocked of 500.00. I had to borrow the money from my son for this. A week later my Blue laid on the floor and struggled to breath. We took him to our normal medivet at Kingsbury as an emergency on the Saturday morning and he felt that the lung tumors were malignant after all and he was dying and he should be euthanised. This was not the only time we have had a run in with Medivet Hendon. My doberman suffered a massive heart attach and died in my sons arms. We obviously needed to get a vet to confirm his death so we once again contacted Medivet Hendon late one night and were told to bring him up. Now my Dobbie was over 6 foot tall on his hind legs and weighed a ton. My son and husband got his dead body into the car and got over to Hendon. A vet, or now after seeing this programme maybe he was not a vet, came out and said are you definately sure he is dead. Rigor mortis had already started to set in but he insisted that he had to test him to see if he was dead. They then started to help my family to get the dog out of the car but dropped the end they were holding of the blanket. My husband had to be held back by my son as this was not just a dog like our Blue Saracen was our family. They were my babies. Tonight I am writing this and my doberman I have now Lucious is not very well. I was going to take him to Medivet in the morning but I am now going to surf the net for a practice that is a one man band. I am so upset

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i have all ready post my feelings about medivet i am still so shocked about what i saw on the program my daughter use too help out in the evening too see if she wanted too be come a nurse ater 3 months thie the thinks my daughter saw was shocking i removed her and the pets i owned i have now found a turly wonderful vets called walton logde they are very carering and always their when i need them night and and day one of my cat evlis has just got diebters i dreed too think if he would have been at medivet i no he would have been dead buy now i cant prasie my vet for what they do for me from the staff too the vets their are good vets out their thank you

Dear Panorama, where is my comment???
Nikiok.

Congratulations to the BBC for showing this programme. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons must surely take some blame for the appalling incidents shown, as they seem completely ineffective at sorting out the problematic issues taking place in some surgeries, or attempting to prosecute the guilty individuals concerned. Unfortunately the monetary aspect of veterinary medicine appears to be on the rise and it is scary to feel we can no longer be 100 percent sure of proper care being administered when we leave our pets at the surgery for operations. I am sure this is not the only veterinary group guilty of misdemeanors. Perhaps all vets will now show more care to the animals they treat - and the bills handed out to their customers - after watching this distressing programme. We can only hope.

I am horrified , though nor surprised, I have always held them in contempt! The practices we saw tonight are not taught practice in Vet. collage, but picked up along the grapevine.I see Veterinary surgeons as being akin to estate agent, untrustworthy. Especially since my friends daughter who is a Vet. worked in a practice where the vaccine that were given to prevent disease were frequently out of date, but still given, when she highlighted this it was not viewed favourable, she had to leave ASAP.
The man from the RVC was a waste of space he said nothing that reassured me, he was so non-committal he aggravated me , its obvious this is a new departure from what he was used to, the fact that so few are struck off indicates nothing! Its an indication that so few are referred to the RVC as people just change practices rather than report bad practice.
We have in the past placed our animals and our trust with them, not again.
What happens to all the other staff in these practices who collude with bad and dangerous practice, are they allowed to get away scott free? It seems so .
The RVC will have to get its act together and start protecting there clients animals and the people who own them and pay vast amounts of money to ensure professional and safe practice, It appears they have no strategy to deal with this type of complaint/practice It makes me sad ,angry,very wary of taking my dogs to any practice, we hope not all Vets are rogues , but we do not know what happens once we leave our pets , if Panorama is any indication of how our pets are treated, its terrifying contemplating having to leave an animal in their care at all.

This episode covers an emotive topic. Panorama, of all organisations, could have taken 9 months of secret footage at the very best veterinary clinic in the world and still managed to elicit many of the above comments. Grainy footage of infirm pets would not take much editing to achieve the desired effect.

If the content of a less sensitive topic was this weak then many reasonable people would question Panorama's ability to produce objective piece in these sensationalist times.

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I was horrified at the treatment of animals on tonights programe. It could also explain my cats behaviour towards vets in general now. I had to take my cat to the Hendon branch of medivets some years ago for emergancy treatment as my local practice was closed. He had severe cystitis and needed to have his bladder drained with a catheter as he could not pee. He should have been sedated for this proceedure. He wasn't. The pain he must have endured must have been excrutiating. God kows what he went through or what they did to him whilst they carried out this proceedure, after watching tonights programe i can only imagine. My cat is terrified whenever i have to take him to the vets now and has been since that day. subsiquently i would never take any of my pets to medivet even if i was paid to!

I actually rang The Veterinarian Council (who seem to be powerless?) and Medivet earlier to lodge my complaints regarding the use of trainees for medical procedures after seeing the programme. Yes, of course there are good vets but when there is a rotten apple it needs to go before all confidence is lost in the profession.
Unfortunately as vets fees rise we will see more of this greedy mentality with little regard for the care of the animals.
All pet owners have had some experience of this and I thank Panorama for confirming and bringing this to a wider audience.
I see that Medicare's website is down, perhaps they are finally getting what they deserve, this sort of profiting from the sick and injured is disgusting.

would just like to say about our experience with medivet, sadly our independent vet who we trusted implicitly retired and the practice was sold out to medivet.Our elderly dog was treated by some very caring vets at medivets but we couldn't say the same for the other staff especially the trainee nurses whos uncaring and rough handling was harsh to say the least.Medivet really do need to look at their staff practises and their concern for profit over animal care

Watching that programme was heartbeaking and it confirms what I,ve always suspected with these bigger chain vet surgerys,that seem to be popping up all over,they want to squeeze as much money out of you as possible!
I,ve had experience with both a small vet surgery and a 'chain' surgery,and i had two totally different experiences.
At the large surgery it seemed to be all about money,and when i told them my dog was insured,they wanted to do tests and x-rays ect which i thought was a bit extreme,especially in the first visit.I'd expected for him to have a examination and medication and a weeks rest,with follow up appointments instead i got the mention of cancer ect and scaring the life out of me.When i challenged them about the costs of all the x-rays,blood tests ect,they just said 'i don't know why your bothered the insurance will pay'in a really cold manner.They didn't seem to have any care or passion at all.They take advantage of the love we have for our pets to make extreme amounts of money!
At the smaller surgery,they were really helpfull and kind.I didn't feel at all that i was getting unnessary treatment,it was kept to the minimum cost,with full explaination given.Just a total different league alltogether.
It's a shame that good hard working caring staff will be tainted with the same brush.
The way these animals were treated is a disgrace and something needs to be done about it,we wouldn't let our children be treat like this,and most people do all love them like our children,they are a huge part of our family life's.
Thankyou for this programme,and hopefully something good will come out of it.

The program exposed the horrifying in the way of welfare of animals, I am studying in the veterinary field myself and have worked for meidvet for work experience in Hendon and Kingsbury and not once did I see an animal mistreated or abused and those on the program that did should be ashamed, I was never told to do anything surgical and staff did worked responsibly and Professionally I give a vote of confidence in my local practice. I wouldn’t be saying this if I was trying to defend them sympothicly where animal welfare is concerned I very series. In my view feel that the RVCS need to shake up and review it striking vets off and should had out criminal records as they have failed to do.

Hi

Just like to say this was recommended to me by a friend who is a vet student at the RVC who didn't think all of the behavior by the staff was very professional. I must say I have two difficult cats, one who is mentally challenged (brain damaged) and one who has been mistreated by his previous owners who doesn't trust people. Our vet works for Fivelands vets in Birmingham and although she is young she handles our two cats with dignity even when I've seen them give her grief on par with the cat in this program. Yes she always ends up with a few scratches but she is always calm even though they are big cats (not to be confused with fat). So I have no fear in taking my cats there. Even the reception staff make a big fuss of any animal both at my current vets and the main practice.

I think some of the vets who have posted are panicking about the repercussions of this program but don't realize that part of the reason it has made such a big impact is because on the whole people know most vets and vet nurses are legitimate, hard working and caring people who will treat the animals with respect so when this sort of thing comes to light it is a big shock. I mean on a number of occasions my cat, who because of previous treatment gets distressed when being picked up, has had to be held by the scruff of his neck he has always been properly supported and not just swung around or just held by his scruff hanging. This was very distressing to watch as I do think this can be handled so much better. As I've said, this isn't just down to age my vet is young (for vets) but this shouldn't be mistaken for incompetence which seemed to emanate from the newly established vet in this program and also the fact that the young man who hit a dog and thought it was ok because the dog was acting 'crazy' has been promoted seems highly odd in itself.

I have a third cat who wasn't handled much as a kitten before I got her and can be quite skittish as a result, when it came for her to be spayed and I collected her I would have known if she was upset in any unusual way and she was fine, she had immediately taken to the vet and has no fear of going to the vets, if that doesn't tell you they treat the animals well I don't know what would.

I think what most people can't believe is not the actual treatment (though bad as it was) but the unprofessional nature of the way the vets acted on the film. It shouldn't matter whether or not the owner is there, the same standard of practice and professionalism should apply. I think this is the case in most vets and this program highlights the minority who shouldn't practice. I am a law student and I know how long it can take to get proper well thought out legislation put in place for anything but I hope one thing comes out of this and that would be to give more power to the RCVS and if a vet is struck off it should mean they are no longer allowed to work in ANY veterinary practice in ANY role and also that I think this seemed a fair documentary, people aren't just going to abandon their vets because of one TV program but there should be more transparency, I mean if we pay privately why can we see exactly what is happening and be told exactly why something has occurred.

I think a problem with a lot of today's professions is that the people going into them have to be the top students getting all of the best marks. I'm not saying it should be open to anyone with half a brain but the most intellectual people aren't always the most caring or most passionate about their chosen career. They just seem to be the people who can memorize the most information at college or school. I know there can also be a lot of work experience to go along but if your not passionate you wont take it in or wont care as much. I'm not trying to offend any students or people who have trained in the major professional qualifications but I have seen a few students who were really passionate about what they wanted to be and really cared about what they were doing but for a number of reasons didn't quite get the right grades and therefore were rejected yet would be the sorts of people who would treat your animal as part of the family or cared about human beings or believed in the sanction of 'innocent until proven guilty' and wanted to work hard to better the law. But these aren't always the people who get where they should.

Anyway, this shouldn't be a reflection on all vets, as I mentioned I know I can trust my vet and would recommend her to anyone so I hope people do take heed but remember that most vets are caring people and should not be any less trusted just because of a minority of people.

I hope Medivet are reading these comments! I am sure the majority of Medivet staff are professionals and provide quality care but the programme highlighted big issues. I see they have picked up on the clip of Yogi to pull apart on their website. My question is regardless of anything else, why is a trainee teaching another trainee how to put in a catheter? Why is the training not being provided by a qualified vet or nurse? It is so easy to blow a vein when inserting a catheter I would not be happy in the slightest.

I understand that trainees can and are taught various procedures. What concerned me were the incidents of ripping of the clients, the treatment of the cat which was being given the anaesthetic, the misdiagnosis ofcancer, the dog being hit and the seemingly uncaring nature of some of the staff towards the animals in their care. Perhaps a by product of the fact they are a large and busy chain. Personally I use a small family run vet practice for my dog and would not go near a chain.

I think that the coverage was very balanced and not as Medivet claim.

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I don't think the programme was scaremongering and I don't think any good, honest vets need have cause for concern. There were two cases in the programme that showed clients getting proper treatment from small, independent practices. The problems highlighted in this programme were more about 'chainstore mentality' and the mismanagement of a few branches rather than veterinary practices in general.
I think the underqualified girls got very raw treatment - I think they believed they were doing things for the best and they tried hard but their inexperience let them down. They should not have been put in that position in the first place.
I was pleased to see the canine blood bank being featured. As a dog owner I am surprised at the number of dog owners that don't know it exists and I thought the process of taking blood from greyhounds in rescue kennels in exchange for routine vaccinations, flea and worm treatment was excellent for all concerned.
My own vet is far from cheap, and several times I have considered changing purely for financial reasons, but I trust him, so why change? He's an excellent surgeon, he knows me and my dogs and I feel very comfortable that he would never 'rip me off' - on several occasions I have discussed certain products with him and he's told me that I'd be wasting my money, or that he'll prescribe something if it will make me feel better even though it wouldn't affect the health of my dog - he wouldn't say those things if he was in it for the money.
Just last week my 12 year old mongrel was in for her six-monthly (free) health check. There was some concern about the amount of plaque on her teeth, but they felt that at her age, the risks of an anaesthetic outweighed the benefits of a dental. A vet 'in it for the money' would have told me that a dental was critical and to make an appointment on the way out.
It's up to the owners to find a vet that they feel comfortable with and to build up a relationship of trust with the practice. I feel I have achieved that so changing and having to build up a similar relationship with someone new seems pointless.
No, of course not all vets are bad and those featured on the programme are a small minority. Actually, I'd never heard of 'Medivet' before this programme, but I do know now that if my practice ever gets bought out by them, I will change immediately, and preferably to any new practice that my current vet opens.

My dog suffered at the hands of a greedy vet 2 years ago where he was brought in for a routine operation- they kept him in for 3 nights charged over £500 (where they had also said that there would be night time supervision-completely untrue!) and released him and he died the next morning. He was rushed to the vet who took over an hr and a half to get there. Autoposy results showed that he died during an infection at operation-they had failed to notice this. The vet called me with these results.

I immediatley contacted RCVS who recommended I get Storm to another vet for autoposy-within 1 hr when I went to get him the owner of the vet and removed him so I couldn't take him.

When RCVS investigated this following my complaint- they vet had conveniently lost the autopsy results- therefore no proof so just goes as a red mark against their name. But the vet could recall the incident and somehow made up a completely untrue explanation for his death that something hadn't stitched up properly- disgraceful!

This was an extremley well known and reputable vet but both they, and in my opinion the RCVS, let me down!!Storm was only 4yrs old and the vet hid what they had done- they would never release his information.The RCVS should be monitoring these vets more closely-I am disgusted by it

This is such a stitch up. The bbc have effectively destroyed this company on the basis of a few isolated incidents. All the posters here refer to their wonderful local and independant vets as comparisons. Despite this, you can probably rest assured that equally as bad practices exist in these places, the difference being they are more expensive as they can't provide the same economies of scale as the large company. And the beeb wont bother investigating them. In life there are are bad individuals, vets, nurses and doctors and police. Of the three worst examples, the bad vet who was struck off, the nurse who hit the dog and the nurse who used a cat as a puppet, we saw that two of them were found out and reprimanded (the vet resigned). The nurse who used the cat as a puppet will probably be sacked now. If the reporter had actually cared about animals she would have tried to stop the last case, but she didn't. She just thought, what great footage! I think the BBC has sunk low witht his terrible tabloid television

Could someone at the BBC explain the thinking (??) behind the title, especially the apostrophe? What does "A Vets'" mean?

If you say / write "going to the vet's", it's short for Veterinary Surgeon's (surgery), like "going to the doctor's" (surgery). But the title seems to be a+plural. This sort of thing may seem trivial but it is disconcerting and headache-making to many. Also it strips away credibility from what might be a good programme.

If they can't be bothered to check or ask someone who knows about the title of their own programme - or edit their own pages ... Lynn Truss had a best-seller about this but nobody - even the BBC - seems to take any notice. What is more, the title is spelt two different ways on the same BBC programmes page!

I am a RVN ( VETERINARY NURSE)

I feel this programme was filmed incorrectly and will just make the british public scared to get veterinary treatment for their much loved pets.

There was two members of staff that worked incorrectly, Aaron the trainee nurse and The vet. Both Members of staff have been delt with in the correct manner, i believe now from the progromme.

I feel that Medivet have been giving a bad name for the wrong reasons. I know there are many veterinary groups out there that work in much worse conditions and many scarey things go on that the public don't know about. I do feel that the main problems lay with the rcvs and training of these veterinary staff. There is not enough monitoring of surgerys and the training facilities us nurses and vets receive are poor standards.

I do feel that medivet do deliever a high standard of veterinary care. I feel that if this was a bad staffing problems at your local doctors surgery (which i seen time and time again with my mother), they would not be making a programme about that. Now medivet have been given a bad name just because of a bad staffing issues.

As for the training side i learnt before must of these laws came out and i do feel that i am better nurse from the way i was trained. A hands on training is the only way to learn. I worked with many uni nurses that have had small amounts of training in surgeries and can't deal with the scared animals and aggressive animals that we see every day. Another thing that needs to sorted by the RCVS.

It is very difficult to deal with aggressive and scred animals and these animals still have to be treated, so the restrtaining of animals must be done as shown in some clips of the programme. They never showed the thousnads of animlas giving treatment that do not need to be restrained in such manor. I do agree that some was too aggressive to the pets but again staff issues not daily activities i am sure. Animals that are like this can be sedated but this is extra costs to owners and extra risks to the animals. Some times restraining is the only way but if the animals need treatment what can the veterinary staff do. An aggressive manor is not used in restraining animals daily i am sure and also i would of been horrified by the slapping of the dog on the head.

There are thousands of points i am sure many veterinary surgeries will learn from this programme but i do think they should of not just aimed it at one of the large groups and maybe used many different groups and smaller surgeries and found the same findings also.

Some clients don't think their lovely pet will bite, but they maybe lovely at home, but in pain and scared won't think twice about eating us vets staff alive.

A programme that has only made veterinary staff jobs harder for all the wrong reasons and never showed how we all do good jobs everyday within all surgeries and i sure medivets surgies too.

As for further work ups shown at high costs, it is up to the client on how they want to treat their pets. I know from past cases that some times these big work ups show nothing but they also some show other problems that are delt with straight away and are live saving due to further invesigations. I do feel that it is very hard for us, animals don't talk so we do work blind and these tests are needed. Vets can throw just meds at your pets but people would also get upset if their pets died because no further work up was done. Then many vets would get in trouble for that. So i do feel the cat from southend was treated in the correct way because if that cat was in a rta and later died the owner again would be unhappy with the service they got.


Medivet and other groups run very good out of hours sevices that are staffed at all times. I know from my own animals care i would rather
leave my animal there in good care. Then leave them with the one man band that a vet or anyone will only check my dog that on the fluids once in the night as he or she needs sleep to work the next day. That is not good care in my eyes. But again the public don't know this either and would not like it.

I could right loads of things but i do feel that maybe this programme should have a second part to but all the wrong right that was just aimed at the biggest veterinary company in the uk and address real problems in the veterinary industry not only within medivet but all surgies across the uk.

I would like to say how disgusted and saddened I am after watching this show. To me it is simple if you do not like or respect animals DO NOT work with them. What shocks me even more is the man who struck the dog (OMG RSPCA should be involved), has now been promoted to Head nurse??!?!?! Even though the incident was put to higher authorities it just goes to show some people do not care so long as they are reeling in money. Some of the language used about these animals who as many have put are like children is sick, a dog cant plead you to stop, if this ever happened at my vets I would be disgusted as I have 3 dogs. Instead of dealnig with these matters quickly and ensuring these people are dismissed, the company involved just pussyfoots around it saying it doesnt happen everywhere!!!?? IT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN FULL STOP. Animals bring so much joy to us and it is always a wrench to give a sick animal to someone else and leave them in their care. I feel there should be a set of standards for ALL vet practices the RCVS should be SO much more involved and aware and make sure one strike and you are out. Otherwise they too are allowing animal cruelty, and how in this day and age can that be allowed?

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I was not at all suprised to see your programe last night, disgusted but not suprised, We lost our baby sam last year due to cancer,he was fourteen. Three years previously we were registered with Medivet at Pinner Green Middlesex and sam had what looked like a spot growing on his eyelid.It didnt seem to cause him any pain but grew and began to cover his eye. We took him to medivet who said they would have to do a biopsy on the spot as they believed it was cancerous, because off his age he would be at risk under anesthetic and he would need special care and be hospitalised for at least twenty four hours. We went away and decided to get a second opinion because we didnt want sam to go through anything that wasnt needed. The new vet we went to who we are still with and who in our opinion deserves a medal for the love and care he gives all animals told us sam had a cyst on his eye , would take him in for the day,remove the cyst, give him antibiotics and check up following day. Total cost one hundred and twenty five pounds, no stress on sam and no worry for us. Medivet quoted us eight hundred pounds just to find out if it was cancer and before any treatment took place. Need I say more. Thank you for exposing them in this way.

I feel the Panorama programme was a valuable contribution, highlighting important issues for the veterinary profession and I felt it was fair and balanced. As the senior partner in a busy veterinary practice I felt the programme highlighted the reasons for the values for which I have always strived: such as putting the animals in our care first, being open and honest about all that we do, and making sure that everyone in the team is properly trained and supervised. It also made some important points about who can own a veterinary practice and the governance of the profession. I always felt that the legal change that allowed companies to own veterinary practices would have far reaching consequences and it has. Thank you Panorama for bring these issues into the public domain

funnily enough i have an ongoing dispute with one of the vets that was shown on the show. he told me just last week that i was the only person that had ever had a complaint about them and that if i didnt contact the rcvs concerning it he would wipe my bill... hmm now i see why he was so keen!

As a veterinary specialist I was not really surprised to see that the BBC has produced a one-sided, sensationalist misrepresentation of the veterinary profession. Yes, the programme did uncover a couple of incidents that clearly should not be allowed to take place (hitting a dog and pretending an injury was pre-existing, when in fact it happened in the practice), but the rest was just an effort to present normal daily veterinary work under a bad light. And that is really easy to do with some hidden camera footage taken by a “reporter” who has no understanding what so ever of the veterinary profession. All the vets and nurses I know have struggled with an angry Shar Pei, had difficulties intubating a cat and had to deal with stressed dogs requiring sedation. That is just day-to-day life in a veterinary practice. And I can quite easily imagine that the untrained reporter could have been unaware that blood pressure WAS being measured, even if she thought it was not. I can’t imagine the past president of the BSAVA who was asked to comment can have been anywhere near a busy veterinary practice in the last decade.

Most of the information was presented in an uncritical way, without any understanding of the medical background. For example charging £75 for antibiotics and diet food for a cat with blood in its urine is in my view NOT good veterinary practice.

The irony is that the very same week, a vet on the South coast is presented as “bionic” by the very same BBC for diagnosing a cruciate ligament rupture in a 20kg dog using radiographs, an MRI scan and arthroscopy (i.e. thousands of pounds of unnecessary diagnostic tests).

That the BBC should produce such poor quality documentaries is deeply disappointing but by no means surprising. Appallingly, this country is dominated by the tabloid media.

As a recently qualified and passionate vet nurse, and having worked in practice for over 3 years, I was keen to defend the staff shown on last nights programme. Unfortunately I am struggling to do so.

As mentioned by many other posts you cannot tar us all with the same brush, but I have only ever worked in private practice which has always been a joy and I have never experienced any cruelty from other members of staff, although private practice tends to get more bad press as we are seen to be money grabbers, which is not the case at all.

However, reading some of the previous comments there is something I need to point out. The group of girls carrying out the catheter placement were highlighted as being 'trainee veterinary nurses', NOT 'student veterinary nurses'. The title is misleading as they are nothing more than KENNEL ASSISTANTS, who clean, walk and feed patients. They should be seen anywhere near a needle or catheter, whether under supervision or not.

I spent 2 years training to be a nurse, the only way to learn is hands on experience but ALWAYS under supervision. Pet owners should not be too concerned if students work in their local practice as they are almost always being instructed by qualified nurses or vets. And despite working in practice for my entire career I still double check things such as drug doses with senior members of staff as we are only human and mistakes are inevitable if you are too proud to get yourself checked.

I remain proud of my title and feel Panorama showed a VERY small proportion of staff that are not compassionate about their job. It's a common rumour that veterinary staff are paid well, in fact many nurses scrape the minimum wage income. We do this job because we enjoy it and because we care, not for the money!

I am so glad Panorama have shown this. I took my cat to Medivet in Hendon in the late 90's and recognized a couple of the more senior staff that appeared in the programme. After a couple of visits I got the impression that they were more interested in pressure-selling me overpriced medication than the welfare of my pet. During the same period an Autistic relative of mine with poor decision-making skills took their cat to the same practice after it had shown mild aggression towards a litter-mate whilst competing for it's owners affection. Tragically, Medivet managed to convince the owner that euthanasia was the best option for this beautiful and perfectly healthy cat. All of this pales into insignificance when compared to the horrific treatment my other cat received at another 'chain' vet in North London - I don't want my comment removed so won't go into detail. Panorama were right to air this - I think the overwhelming message is that if you want the best for your pet take it to an independent vet.

i can't believe how one sided your programme was. you focused only on the very few bad or fairly bad incidents in a small number of the clinics medivet have.
they have many many good practices and dedicated vets and nurses!
you will now be the cause of people not takeing their pets to the vets.
All companies have problems of this kind not just medivet. but you decided to highlight ONE company!
if you have a rougue doctor do you blame the whole hospital??
i feel sorry for the dedicated vets and nurses that will have to suffer the fallout from such a vindictive programme.

I would also like to bring to everyones attention Canine Hydrotherapists. I am a qualified hydrotherapist, but I worked for someone who called themselves a hydrotherapist after completing a one day shadow training course. She did not even get in the water with the dogs, and now runs her own unit treating all animals that come for therapy, without any proper training. Even insurance companies are paying out without checking her credentials.

There are no bodies regulating these 'so called' professionals, anyone can set up as a hydrotherapist and pay to join a 'club', they don't check for their qualifications either.

I paid for my own course to qualify, and it's extremely concerning that anyone can call themselves a hydrotherapist, and have such a small understanding of their job. They may have a first aid certificate, but have no idea at all about any phisolgical problems, or any harm they may be doing to the animals that come to them for treatment.

Where are the regulatory bodies for this profession? I have tried to report this lady, but there's no one that appears to be concerned.

Please, please check ALL the qualifications if you are taking your pet for hydrotheraphy; read ALL the small print on any certificates carefully, 'shadow training' just means that the person 'watched' the hydrotherapist for a brief time. There are qualifications that can be obtained to give an understanding of conditions that would benefit from hydrotherapy.

A good hydrotherapist will benefit your pet, as it's an extremely good form of exercise for an animal with certain problems.

I was beside myself, I couldnt watch it! The Royal Veterinary College and MEdivet have been arrogant in thinking that they are beyond reproach.

The RVC should be doing more to REGULATE its profession and does not have a good reputation even amongst its own membership.

The fact that it can strike someone off its register and then be happy that they can run a MEDIVET practice and teach VETS how to operate and examine, makes the RVC incompetent and futile.


Reading the blogs on here, well we can tell who the greedy arrogant vets are cant we?

I feel very sad for the fabulous ungreedy Vets but in the end the fabulous BBC and Mr Vine will hopefully have exposed the fact that there are many greedy and poor vets, and maybe it will lead to much higher regulation and better animal welfare? Lets Hope?

I cant tell you what I thought about what I did see, I get too upset about it.

I urge all you pet owners to ask questions, challenge prices, get quotes, and dont be intimidated by arrogant vets. Do ask about alternatives.

Only this morning I asked a North London Vet who has 3 flash practices for a price for some x-rays. He came back with just under £800 as a quote plus an £80 fee to the Vet Association. I called another Vet and they said £180. I have tried to report that to the RVC this morning but they weren't answering calls!!

Umm, a little busy on the lines are we? I do hope so. C'mon let that British spirit sort this out, bang on doors, pick up your phone, contact your local MP, and lets get some change.

I congratulate the BBC and MR Vine for an excellent programme that I could barely watch, that actually will have saved lives in the future if the RVC and greedy vets can sort themselves out.

Well done - the Beeb!

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