The corporate owners of Country Chase VH have added insult to injury! If I had known CCVH was…read morecorporately owned, I would never have gone there. Don't be fooled, they are heartless. Sorry about the lengthy details. Names have been redacted.
Yesterday, I requested a refill of pain medication for my 15.5 year old dog (Shadow) and the office rejected it. I called them, and they said that since I had filed a complaint with the state they would not approve the refill, would immediately e-mail my records, and they would no longer take care of Shadow. This was 2 months after I filed a complaint (about the euthenasia of my other dog) and met with the office manager. I told them I was filing a complaint, but wanted a different vet to continue to care for Shadow. They did not say "this will be your last prescription", or give me time to find a new vet... no nothing. Now, 2 months later, I have an old dog, in pain, and have to wait 3 weeks for an appointment with a new vet, new exams, etc,... But CCVH doesn't care!
I was not going to make this public. But, they twisted the knife they had already stabbed me with. This was the original complaint:
I had made the difficult decision to put my beloved Apache down (in what was supposed to be a humane manner) on 12/11/2025, and wanted to be by her side as she was always by mine.
The procedure was described to me by the assistant as "there will be 2 injections, one to sedate her and one to stop her heart" and that both would be done in my presence. My dog was very attached to me, and I wanted to be with her, and for her to KNOW I was there for her! The assistant told me that she was going to simply place a catheter in Apache and bring her right back to me, and that then I could spend as much time as I needed to say my goodbyes before the procedure was done. Apache went willingly with the assistant and was not exhibiting any signs of distress. Shortly after, the assistant returned and Apache collapsed at the doorway. She proceeded to push/carry Apache towards the bed, where Apache collapsed into a deep coma... eyes rolled up, tongue out, barely breathing (if at all). She quickly said "we sedated her" and "to push the button when I was ready". Apache was unresponsive and certainly not aware of where she was or that I was there for her (the thing I had wanted most in the world). I was stunned and confused at having been deceived.
This was most certainly NOT what I had wanted, or been told would happen! I was able to lift her eyelid, to see if she would acknowledge me... but, there was no reaction. In horrified shock, I quickly pushed the button. As the vet and assistant returned, I said "she's not there" to which the vet coldly responded "Oh, she's there".
So,... I was expected to say my good byes to basically a corpse?!?
I quickly asked for them to do the procedure, as now it appeared to me that Apache was struggling to live and this was inhumane and torture. I then watched as the vet proceeded to re-sedate a comatose dog (a ridiculous step, as Apache was already unconscious and completely unresponsive) and then administer the final injection.
I have relived this procedure many times in the middle of the night, and have not slept well since. I filed a complaint with the office manager, and asked what happened? I was told that the vet felt Apache was too anxious, because she was "panting", and decided to "sedate" her without my permission or approval. I was in the next room for God's sake! I should have been told. If Apache did start panting back there, it was only because she was weak and old, and she found herself alone, with strangers doing something to her, and her daddy was nowhere in sight.
EXACTLY WHAT I DID NOT WANT! WHAT I HAD WANTED MOST IN THE WORLD WAS TO BE BY HER SIDE, AND FOR HER TO KNOW I WAS THERE! That was cruelly taken from me, and can never be replaced.
Apache's trust in me had been broken, and my trust in humanity has been shattered. This was not a humane, dignified death. This was cold, cruel, callous, AND MOST CERTAINLY NOT COMPASSIONATE.