When we needed Dr. Lucy Cruickshank the most, she wasn't there for us. She let us down completely in our dog's greatest hour of need. And for this, we will never be able to forgive her.Nearly three ... Read More
When we needed Dr. Lucy Cruickshank the most, she wasn't there for us. She let us down completely in our dog's greatest hour of need. And for this, we will never be able to forgive her.Nearly three years ago we made it very clear to her on our first office visit that she could only be our veterinarian if she was willing to come to our home should it be necessary to put our dog down. Having had to put down two previous boxer dogs, we knew the importance of clarifying our need in advance. We told her that we'd be happy to compensate her for this. She assured us that she'd come to our home, adding that she wouldn't consider charging for putting a dog down. This was the start of an exceedingly expensive relationship--we figure it at about $,6000 to $7,000--maybe more. The bottom line is this: While frustrated by the ever-increasing mountain of charges, we accepted them--our dog's welfare was at stake. But what we couldn't accept was that this doctor DIDN'T HONOR HER WORD WHEN THE CHIPS WERE DOWN. She left us scrambling to find another veterinarian in a hurry. Our dog, Avianna, took a turn for the worst on Wednesday morning. She was a 60 lb. boxer dog who'd overnight completely lost the ability to sit or stand. This meant that there was no way for her to go outdoors to go to the bathroom; and we physically couldn't lift her. But, Dr. Cruickshank's office is closed after 1 p.m. on Wednesday and we were forced to leave a message.Dr. Cruickshank, phoned back an hour later, and to our horror, after apprising her of the dire situation, she reneged about coming over to put Avianna down! We reminded her that this was the very reason we chose her. She hemmed and hawed saying that she needed someone from the office to assist her. We offered to pay for her assistant--but she refused, saying that she couldn't do that and would put the dog down on Thursday. We told her we'd find an emergency service and thanked her for returning the call. We used Google to find Dr. Rachel. She was there in an hour and, coincidentally, didn't require an assistant! This woman was an angel who overwhelmed us with her compassion and kindness and understanding. Dr. Cruickshank never even phoned us, nor have we even received a call from her asking how it went or how we were doing after putting down our cherished little Avianna. Read Less