’ Inhumane’ end for their Jessie
CHARTERS Towers couple Jan and Earl Robinson have been left devastated by the loss of a beloved pet after leaving the 16- year- old gelding at a Townsville vet clinic.
Mrs Robinson said they felt let down by the level of care and had been under the impression their sick horse, Jessie, was getting around- the- clock care. Three days after the horse was admitted for colic at Townsville Veterinary Clinic, Jessie died alone, in what Mrs Robinson, 62, describes as an inhumane way.
The couple said a staff member at the clinic told them they had arrived at work on the morning of November 6, to find the horse had “thrashed itself to death” in its stable.
“They told us he was unrecognisable, and they wouldn’t let us see him,” Mrs Robinson said. “The person I spoke to said they did not know how they would get him out of the stable, but by the time we had driven the 90 minutes from Charters Towers to Townsville, they had put his body into a float and he was being taken to the dump to be buried.
“It is something I wouldn’t wish to happen to anyone else. I was crying when I was signing the form and the receptionist asked me to pay $ 1500, and I was later charged $ 2000, which included taking the horse to the dump.”
Mr Robinson said money was not the issue but in the week after Jessie’s death, his wife was so traumatised by what happened to her beloved horse she had a breakdown and had to seek treatment.
“We had him for 10 years and he had been in the same paddock and Jan would ride him every weekend,” he said. “He’d never had a sick day in his life. “On the day he got sick, I gave him a carrot and about an hour later he was banging the fence in the paddock and we saw him going down. Our local vet was here within 20 minutes and Jan was up with him all night on the Wednesday night, then the vet was back early on Thursday to put fluids through him.
“The vet suggested we could either go to Townsville and get more fluids to bring back here, or we could go to the equine vet where he would have all the support he would need.”
Mrs Robinson said she wanted an apology, and for vets to not mislead people that their animal was receiving 24- hour care.
“It was $ 1000 a day and they told us it was 24/ 7 care, they said there would be a vet there all the time,” she said.
Mrs Robinson said she had made a complaint to the Veterinary Services Board of Queensland.
Townsville Veterinary Clinic director Brad Dowling, a registered specialist in equine surgery, said the case was under review and while he felt for the Robinsons, he could not comment.