It has taken me some time to get to the point where I can write a review of this horrendous place, as I have been mourning the 100% needless death of my beloved horse, due to the utter ineptitude of t... Read More
It has taken me some time to get to the point where I can write a review of this horrendous place, as I have been mourning the 100% needless death of my beloved horse, due to the utter ineptitude of the equine veterinary staff at this godforsaken place. Please find below the report I gave on my mortality proof of loss form. And if you love your horse, DO NOT bring him here. They have no idea what they are doing.The resident vet at our barn, Dr. Parrott, had seen my horse a few weeks before I brought him here, due to lameness at the trot from his patella falling out of place. At the time, he did not think that there was much to be done surgically, but that in time Zorro would get used to the patella and work to keep it in place, thus not allowing him to do dressage or anything of that nature, but still live a full life of hacking on the trails or around the arena. While it was disappointing, I was okay with that and wanted to do whatever I could to keep him comfortable and around for many more years. He did say that he was going to check with a surgeon that he knew to see if there was anything he could do. A couple of weeks later he got in touch and said that Dr. Garcia at Tufts thought he could do something to help. Never was the possibility of euthanasia on the table, or I would have never brought him in. I took him to Tufts for his appointment weeks later (as they were pretty booked up). They did x-rays and ultrasound, and found him to be a good candidate for surgery. Dr. Garcia said that there was a 50/50 chance of it working, but if it did not he would not be any worse off than before. Had he said ANYTHING about the remote possibility of euthanasia, I would have hightailed it out of there faster than he could say "stifle." I agreed to try the surgery and he was scheduled for the next day. After the surgery, Dr. Garcia called to say that he was very pleased with how it went, but needed to see how Zorro was when he stood up. After he stood up, the patella went to the inside, unfortunately. He said he wanted to wait it out for a few days to see if Zorro would stand on it to make it go in place. At the time they believed it was due to a lack of muscle (which did not make sense as Zorro had not been out of work for very long). It wasn't until they did the second surgery that Dr. Garcia saw that he had shredded the tissue. It was over the weekend that euthanasia was first brought up, as the vet tech told me that it was either a second surgery to give him a fighting chance, or to put him down. Of course, I opted for the second surgery. The second surgery was scheduled for the following Tuesday. Again, Dr. Garcia was happy with how it went, until Zorro stood up and immediately shredded the tissue again in stepping back. At that point he said that there was nothing more to be done and Zorro would need to be put down. "No worse off," right.....DO NOT bring your horse to these people. If even one person reads this and decides against bringing their horse here, then my beloved Friesian's death won't be completely in vain. Read Less