This is a really long review, but well worth a read if you are considering bringing your dog here. They are incompetent, they lie to you in order to extort money, engage in illegal practices, and are ... Read More
This is a really long review, but well worth a read if you are considering bringing your dog here. They are incompetent, they lie to you in order to extort money, engage in illegal practices, and are only obsessed with money.I have been coming to Pomona Valley Veterinary Hospital for 11 years with my dog, Link. I chose them because they were local. They are a bit expensive and Dr. Kahn isn't particularly friendly, but my experiences there were good enough to keep returning.After my dog had some blood work done last May, Dr. Khan advised that my dog start on some thyroid medication after the test showed his levels were slightly below normal. After paying hundreds of dollars for the tests and his allergy medication, we were tapped out and declined to purchase it from the animal hospital at that time. My dog had his booster shots early January and again, the vet recommended we start him on thyroid medication. I did a little research and about a month ago I discovered that they were selling the same thyroid medication online for about 90% cheaper. So I phoned the vet and asked him to write a prescription out for me so I could purchase the medication online.This is when everything just went crazy. First, they told me that they would have to charge 15 dollars just to write the prescription, even though we had already paid for the diagnosis, tests, and visit. Despite what an obvious scam this was, I arrived at the vet prepared to pay. Now, they changed their story. A woman named Clarissa (the vet assistant) told me and my sister that the tests were too old, and they could not LEGALLY write a prescription anymore without another $130 round of blood tests. However, if we were to purchase the medication from them (at a 1000% markup), they wouldn't need to do the blood tests again.This was absolutely ridiculous to me. Either they were illegally withholding a prescription I had paid for or they were offering to illegally sell me outdated medication.It took a five minute call to the Veterinary Medical Board where Dr. Parlan advised me of the truth: Not only were blood tests for hypothyroidism good for up to a year, they are by California law required to write a prescription for any medication that they dispense. She even gave the the number of their business and profession code, 4107, that stated these facts.My sister and I returned to the vet the next day with this information, and we could not believe what they had to say. They were STILL adamant that they could not give us a prescription unless we paid them for more tests or bought the medication there. I challenged Clarissa on why she had told us it was illegal to give us the prescription but not illegal to sell it to us, and she had nothing to say but insist that we were wrong. My sister questioned her on what law she was quoting the day before, and she simply replied "I don't know it." We advised her that it was very shady to make up laws to enforce their own policies, and that it only took us a single phone call to their licensing board to find the law stating that they were illegally withholding my dog's prescription from us. Again, she had nothing to say.After refusing the prescription again, we asked to speak to Dr. Khan directly. She told us no, and when we asked why, she didn't say anything. It was unbelievable.Finally, I pulled out my phone and called the Veterinary Board again, and asked them to explain the laws that they were breaking directly to Clarissa. After another pointless ten minutes of her arguing with their licensing board, they told her what we already knew: They were illegally withholding the prescription from us. They had no choice but to finally write us the prescription, and I also made them give us my dog's medical records as well, because there is no way I would ever return there again.So, sorry for the long review, but I truly feel that this practice does a disservice to animals and owners alike. They lied to us about needing new tests (to extort money from us), they made up a fake law to keep from writing a prescription we had paid for, and they offered to go around all these fake roadblocks if we gave them more money. So please, don't bring your pet here unless you want to be seen as potential victims they can steal from. Read Less