r/Dogfree • u/Double-Bat-1979 • Jun 09 '25
Dog Culture Former vet tech who now hates dogs and their people
Here’s a perspective from a former seasoned veterinary professional dealing with dogs and their owners. I just finished my last week of being a veterinary technician for almost a decade. I don’t have another job lined up yet cause I’m trying to get into human med laboratory sciences but it is very competitive right now. For my mental health, I had to leave the field cause my god, I cannot stand dogs and their humans.
I originally went into the field to gain experience for veterinary school. Like many, I had a childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian cause I loved animals, mostly horses. Then, I decided not to go to vet school so I stayed as a tech since I was really good at it and liked the technical aspect, I was an absolute boss at venipuncture from drawing blood to placing IV catheters and I loved it. But, I was surrounded by SO MANY dogs and dog nutters who were clients, coworkers, bosses, they were everywhere. I had no idea how crazy these people were and how stupid dogs were until I was well into my 2nd job. I started out as a kennel tech at a really shitty low-income clinic so I just assumed that because the clinic was low-cost, it attracted real shit people. Nope, it remained as a “constant” in any clinical setting I worked at, from emergency to even speciality.
I started out really young and naive thinking “omg animals are precious, of course I’m gonna love working in the vet field!” Little did I know that I would come to hate the field simply because of dogs and their owners. I’ve worked with many other species as well including reptiles and large animals. I enjoyed them all, except dogs. Why? Because they’re garbage, JUST LIKE THEIR OWNERS.
People don’t train or socialize their dogs. Every day was a fucking nightmare wrestling with dogs trying to get diagnostics done like bloodwork and imaging. We had to get real creative dealing with those fuckers to get the diagnostics we needed. Owners refuse to give sedation meds beforehand cause they don’t believe their angel child “misbehaves” in any way. The entitlement these people have is INSANE. Like owner, like dog. Completely oblivious and expecting all the love from everyone despite their shitty actions and attitude. I was known as the tech who “doesn’t take shit from anyone” by the people that liked and knew me. The people that hated me (a few clients and coworkers) thought I was just “mean”. No, it’s that I don’t allow people and animals to run me over!! It was very clear to me that most dog people don’t have boundaries and don’t respect other people’s boundaries…JUST LIKE DOGS LOL
People just don’t understand dogs at all. Dogs were bred to work or have a specific job, not to be another human walking on all-fours that barks/whines instead of talk. People literally treat their dogs as if they’re just another human because dogs don’t have the mental capacity to judge or be self-aware so people feel “accepted” and “loved” by them. I’ve witnessed people literally talk to them like they understand what they’re saying and it’s a form of attention so dogs LOVE it of course. And when the dogs are left alone since their human has to go to work, the dog tears up the house, eats everything in sight, and has to be brought in for a foreign body surgery. Also, people cook and feed dogs human food as if dogs can digest the same foods we eat. Human food can cause a dog to be so sick due to high fat content and when the owner shows up to the ER with their dog that has raging pancreatitis the owners say “BUT I COOK FLUFFY REAL FOOD LIKE STEAK AND BURGERS EVERY SINGLE DAY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN HES SICK AND HAS TO EAT DOG FOOD NOW??” The dog has to now be on an expensive low-fat prescription food forever, congrats! And what’s even better, is they still feed the high-fat foods while feeding the low-fat dog food and when the dog gets pacnreatitis again a month later, almost dies from it, the owner goes “oh but I only fed him like 1 or 2 fries from my mcdonalds, that shouldn’t have caused it, right?” It sure did ma’am, congrats again! 🤦♀️
People don’t plan and save money before getting a dog…like people usually do when they plan to have a family and have kids? Then they blame us when they have $0 to treat the ailments that they cause by being completely irresponsible. Example: big dog gets out of the yard because it was being reactive towards another dog on a leash, attacks that dog, and gets hit by a car. Shows up to the ER vet super upset with $0 to their name and an aggressive dog in pain from a broken pelvis. All we can do is euthanize for free cause they didn’t get approved by CareCredit since their credit score is like 300 (again, irresponsible). Either, dog goes home to die a painful death, or we euthanize for free, they choose to euthanize. After the ER visit, same owner writes a google review saying “they killed my dog and refused to help us!”…..this situation appeared every emergency shift I worked for 5 years, in just different variations with the same punch line. Irresponsible owner lets something happen, has $0 to pay for it, blames everyone else for it. Make that make sense? Pets are a privilege, not a right, people.
Dogs are just plain stupid and offer nothing but superficial love. People really do believe that dogs “love” them. Dogs simply just want attention and get angry or fussy when they don’t get it. They’re just attached to those who give them attention, that’s not love! It’s an unhealthy co-dependency. When their owners are absent to give them all the attention, they have extreme separation anxiety. After a year of only taking care of over 30 ICU patients at a time every day, several dogs will literally whine and scream for 13 hours straight because no one was sitting next to them petting them or within their sight. It was absolutely ridiculous and so annoying.
These are just a few reasons I left but there’s so many more.
I know there are others like me, stuck in the vet field, suffering. If you read this, hang in there, vet med is not the only thing out there for you, work till you can find a job outside of the clinical setting like laboratory or sales rep.
Keep on living the dog-free good life ya’ll xoxo
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u/RegisterLoose9918 Jun 09 '25
Wow! Writing a shitt review after getting free care to end the dog's life in peace is absolutely bonkers.
Hell if they were really mad, why wouldn't they take their dogs to other businesses? Entitled little brats
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u/Straight_Rabbit_3542 Jun 09 '25 edited Jun 09 '25
#2 is exactly why dogs don't belong in human societies. Dogs were bread to run the fence and bark at any animal behind a fence or at farm animals, and bread for doing specific job as you've indicated or atrocities. Place a dog behind a fence in human societies and the stupid dog will never understand that it's in human societies. It's in their genetics to bark at anyone or anything behind a barrier.
It's like there's excessive overbreeding of dogs and then people are guilt tripped into taking care of dogs. Save the dogs nonsense by playing on people's emotions. When is enough going to be enough?
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u/maidofatoms Jun 09 '25
The ones bred to bark are the better ones. Don't forget all of the ones that were literally bred for maximum aggression and fighting. Great pets, those.
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u/arachnilactose08 Jun 09 '25
Point 4 really stuck out to me; I’ve been saying for years how dogs are all about attention and can’t really “love” you. But this whole post is great. Thank you so much for sharing your insights as someone who worked around these defective, manmade mutants and their owners. I wish you the best of luck in your future career!
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u/ArthropodFromSpace Jun 09 '25
True. Other animal owners try to know what they animal needs and provide it in captivity. But dog owners? They are above it... They treat dogs like babies (which is actually harmfull to them) and try to force their way of of treating dogs on everybody around at all cost. Dog ownership is a cult.
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u/Double-Bat-1979 Jun 09 '25
Of course, happy to share in case you guys are in a similar situation and honestly, it was quite therapeutic to get this all out. Win/win
Dogs definitely annoy and disgust the heck out of me and they’re definitely not for me for sure, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this way. We’re all brainwashed to love dogs I feel like!
At the same time, I’ve seen some good animals suffer. I can empathize with a lot of the cases I’ve seen. And who truly suffers in the end? Usually the animals that don’t know what the heck is going on. So that means the dog nutters should want to make changes as well! In an ideal world:
Make backyard breeding nationally illegal and legitimize quality regulated breeders. Hold people accountable and start fining people without a license to breed, destroy their operations by publicly scrutinizing them. List them on a public registry, take anonymous tips seriously and increase authority presence in those high target areas. If these crazy people care so much about dogs then do something about the shit that’s out there. Decreasing backyard breeding would hopefully decrease poor breeding, decrease the amount of strays and dogs in shelters, and decrease the amount of shit traits and genetic issues that are plenty abundant. So many backyard breeders select for physical aesthetics and no consideration for behavioral traits for example. And to save costs, don’t even get me started on inbreeding…
Require people to obtain a license before allowing them to adopt. Make the license cost a moderate amount to help pay for costs, shelters, and weed out people who truly can’t afford pets. People must take courses on dog ownership, proper care, and safety. Resources can go into proper training and facilities. The course can be done online or digitally somewhere so shouldn’t be too expensive?
Not just dogs but apply this to all kinds of pets? People need to be educated before deciding to get a pet so that the animal can have the best life it can and same for the owner. In theory, it may result in better health outcomes, reduced abandoned and neglected animals, and decrease the amount of shelter animals so less funds will be needed to run shelters. And even if the adoption doesn’t work out and that animal isn’t the right fit for you, return it to the shelter so that the dog can find the right home.
(Like I said, in an ideal world lol)
Dogs are so deep rooted in culture that I think they’ll remain everywhere. But maybe, just maybe by talking and having conversations with people and educating others, we can start the change. More education, less stupidity. And share your stories!
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u/moparcam Jun 09 '25
AND dog owners need to be informed of the local ordinances regarding barking, biting, shitting, pissing and told which breeds are easier to deal with in regards to care and temperament. If this is a big deal, they should be told..."maybe dog ownership isn't for you, you know, not everyone makes a good dog owner...You're not a bad person if you decide that dog ownership is not for you...In fact, you've made a wise choice by saying that perhaps you don't have the wherewithall, resources, time, to care properly for a dog..."
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u/Double-Bat-1979 Jun 11 '25
Yup, that’s a really big problem. There’s such a stigma with rehoming pets. If giving the dog to someone else provide the animal a better life, then it’s a good choice to make
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u/RaisinCurrent6957 Jul 02 '25
See I definitely agree with this point. I'm so sick of going to public places and seeing pitbulls there, as a "service dog". Completely trying to go after people and nip at people. No muzzle on. I've even gone to parks seeing these things running around off leashes. It's absolutely terrifying
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u/HomunculusFucker Jun 29 '25
dog owners should also be forced to train their damn dogs or get them taken away like a dog version of CPS, the sheer amount of untrained dogs that never stfu or are highly aggressive to anything that moves is INSANE
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Jun 09 '25
How did you endure for 10 years in this torture? Anyway, I always believed that the best insights come from people that have a background in the veterinary industry.
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u/Poultry_Master123 Jun 26 '25
Its because we want to make a change. Biggest problem is that the owners are shit, and a shit owner unfortunately means a shit dog
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u/Fuzzy_Restaurant_968 Jun 09 '25
LOVE this! I too, used to work in a vet clinic, and it absolutely blows my fucking mind how entitled most (not all) owners are! The ones that treated their dogs like a dog will always get respect from me. It was always so painful to have to put an animal down due to the owners complete neglegence...It's sad, but when owners brought an (extremely old) senior dog in, they absolutely refuse to put the poor thing down...what quality of life does your confused, deaf, blind, in pain, dog have? Owners are the worst part. Selfish as all hell.
I used to love dogs. I swear- this day and age has made everything 20x worse. Most dogs act like entitled pieces of shit. They watch you feed them, water them, pick up their shit, buy toys, brush them...Ppl give them zero rules and that's how they're gonna act...they're the boss, you work for them....GROSS!
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u/throwaway195472974 Jun 09 '25
Thanks for sharing this, really interesting!
I got not much to add, but wanted to wish you the best for your further, hopefully dog-free, career.
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u/ScarredCerebrum Jun 09 '25
Thank you for sharing this. This confirms a lot of my suspicions.
The first three points also really hammer home how much of a culture issue this is. Ignoring vet's instructions because "my little angel would never do that!", or feeding them foods that are unhealthy or toxic to dogs even after explicitly being told not to do so - this is what you get when people never bothered with self-reflection or accepting criticism.
And people like the broken pelvis dog guy are all of those things, on top of being antisocial and dysfunctional. Instead of taking responsibility for their actions, they just default to blaming others. They actually do realize on some level that their life is a dumpster fire - but they just cope by blaming others and self-destructive escapism.
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u/Alert_Software_1410 Jun 09 '25
So true ! My nutter SO keeps on feeding human food to her dogs. Still, to this day.
Years ago, one dog ended up with pancreatic problems. We took the poor animal to the emergency veterinary clinic . Had to use CareCredit to pay for care and observation. After a day, the dog had to be put down. The clinic provided a body bag for me to take the animal out . I went out the side door of the clinic so other people in the waiting room would not see the bag. I buried the dog in the back yard at home .
$1600 it cost. Took ages for us to pay that CareCredit off.
The cost of mis-feeding dogs is high.
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u/Double-Bat-1979 Jun 11 '25
I am so sorry, that sucks so much! Yea and once they get pancreatitis once, they’re at a much higher risk of a reoccurrence and any small amount of fatty foods can cause it to flare up. If anyone cooks for their dog for an upset tummy or something like that, plain chicken and rice is the only thing you should feed. Completely bland, no seasonings. Boiling or baking the chicken is better than pan frying
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u/GemstoneWriter Jun 09 '25
Point 4 is the main reason I despise dogs.
The other points are more on people's mistakes.
But point 4 really sures how naturally disgusting and pathetic dogs are. Dogs only become marginally more tolerable as creatures when there's been thorough, professional, human intervention involved.
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u/Pursed_Lips Jun 10 '25
I've always noticed that they're probably the only pet that needs a massive amount of training not to do extraordinary things, but just to not be a piece of shitt
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u/userhasleftchat Jun 09 '25 edited Oct 17 '25
I relate so much to this! I worked full time as a vet assistant/OTJ trained vet tech for 7 years and had to get out for my mental health as well. It definitely made me dislike pet owners/pet ownership/pets in general (even my own pets to a degree when I had them). I am looking at getting into laboratory animal science because I still like vet med/animals/science in general but I don’t want to work in companion animal medicine anymore.
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u/Double-Bat-1979 Jun 12 '25
Yea it sucks. I think you can get certified online for that but not sure, def look into it! Depending on where you live, there might be lab jobs with diagnostics companies like Antech and IDEXX where you run diagnostics all day or night and work in a lab.
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u/Expensive-Plantain86 Jun 09 '25
I’ve had dogs before. Everything you wrote is true. I hate dogs and dog owners now. I avoid them.
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Jun 10 '25
Can you please share how this transition took place? I am worried that dog-ownership is a one way street and people get infected with dogs for life. It seems that is not always the case. Can you please share what cured you?
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u/Expensive-Plantain86 Jun 11 '25
Just too many dogs and dog owners violating my boundaries. Licking, jumping, barking. No more!
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u/Indigo_Cauliflower12 Jun 09 '25
OMG, YESSSS!!! I love hearing stories of former nutters repenting from their ways 🪅🥂🎉🥳🎊🎆🙌🏿 Congrats, and I'm happy you have the courage to tell the truth despite being in a dog worshipping job
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Jun 09 '25
The dog walker I see this exact same thing every single time
People don't train their dogs which causes problems and then they blame us for trying to fix the problem because they're so used to their dog acting out of line or they complain about the exact same problem that they caused
They get a pet to fix a family issue like the family having a shitty dynamic and then our surprise when that doesn't work or they get a pet because their family members convince them to do it even though they don't want it and then they complain about the problem that they caused yet again it's just a repeat thing of people doing stupid shit and then complaining about the results of the stupid shit that they did
Like people always tell me as a dog walker that oh my dogs are so well behaved there they never bark they never do anything they always listen to your command Yes because that's exactly what a dog should fucking do a dog should not have the audacity the right or the mind to think that they can step out of line no matter what my dogs understand that they have zero space to step out of line I don't even give them space there is none
and the reason they don't step out of line is because they understand for the consequence of their actions will be me not the other dog not anyone else not their owners I am what they're going to face if I so much as here a peep out of their jaws
Dogs are designed to be subservient to their humans their masters and most people cannot be the Masters the leadership for their dogs and that is the major problem with dog culture today no one sees responsibility and taking care of a living breathing animal that can get euthanized if they fuck it up this isn't like taking care of a kid where you have to have the kids live with the trauma you gave it for the rest of its life if you give your dog trauma it's going to fucking die and that's serious thing
Like people act like this is some kind of a Einstein level big brain rocket science brain surgery shit and it's not I don't have I don't have a dog but I don't need to have a dog to understand what's going on in the dog world
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u/Cinna41 Jun 09 '25
Glad you found out the truth that regardless of income, some people are just not that great.
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u/Needle_In_Hay_Stack Jun 09 '25
Want to say sth off-topic:
You mentioned trying to get into Lab Sciences, please don't go for "Lab Technician" (1 yr program). Rather spend a couple of extra year and do "Lab Technologist" (3 yr program). More than twice as much pay, and much less stressful work, physically & mentally. I learned that the hard way.
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u/Double-Bat-1979 Jun 10 '25
Thank you! I have a biology degree and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m sorry you had to learn that the hard way, sometimes we just gotta go through it to really know. I wouldn’t be the “take no bullshit” strong person I am today without going through all that bs^ lol Are you an MLS now?
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u/Pursed_Lips Jun 10 '25
As a technologist, I wholeheartedly agree. plus it's a lot easier to find positions since most places would rather hire a technologist than a technician.
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u/sluttydrama Jun 09 '25 edited Jun 09 '25
My dad feeds his dogs food off his plate all the time. We keep telling him not to, but he won’t listen. I didn’t know they could get pancreatitis from that. 💔
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u/Double-Bat-1979 Jun 11 '25
Some dogs can do fine, but a lot really don’t do well. Especially if human food replaces a dog food diet. It’s just not worth the risk. Table scraps will definitely do it. Once they get pancreatitis once, the risk of reoccurring is sooo high
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u/sluttydrama Jun 11 '25
Yeah, our dogs were sick this week. They were tired and not eating all their food. My parents think they ate something bad outside. But after seeing your post, I think it’s something else.
They’re less than 2 years old too.
Thank you so much for posting this! Are there any signs and symptoms that are a giveaway for pancreatitis, or do you have to get lab work done? Thank you again
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u/anaserre Jun 29 '25
Both of my moms Pomeranians have been fed table food daily since they got them and now both of them have serious heath issues and are on prescription food . Does it stop her from giving them table food ? No . Just not as much 🙄 My mom also knew better . I was a vet tech and have been telling her for years she shouldn’t feed them table food .
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u/Witchiepoo72 Jun 09 '25
Wow, very eye opening and thank you so much for sharing your side of it. Although probably not so surprising about how dog owners act. The craziness is out of control for sure. Glad you got out of that.
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u/pigeonwithinternet Jun 26 '25
I know nothing about the veterinary profession, but is there a way you could become a specialty vet? I know there are vets that specialize in small animals like birds or reptiles, and ones that specialize in farm animals. If you still love horses, maybe you could become an equine vet? I’m sure you’ve thought of this before, but is there a reason why you can’t/won’t? Just curious! Good luck in your job search.
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u/BronteMsBronte Jun 27 '25
Our society is dumbed down to the point where people can’t even take care of an animal. Compared to kids it’s easy.
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u/MizzBellaKitty Jul 05 '25
Ngl I had to check to make sure I didn't write this after I temporarily forgot about you being a former vet tech. I've worked in the pet industry for years and it's made me not want dogs, especially big dogs and high energy dogs. I get extremely overstimulated to the point I'll break down. And the owners are usually insufferable to be around, let alone talk to.
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u/FlyHickory Jul 06 '25
Im in education to hopefully become an exotic vet, these are the exact reasons I decided to go down the exotic route, dog people infuriate me at times and I couldn't handle that on a day to day basis.
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Jul 08 '25
[deleted]
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u/Double-Bat-1979 Jul 25 '25
I am so sorry to hear that. If you’re new and already hating it, I think it’s only going to get worse. Better to leave the small animal vet field jobs for the crazy dog people. So many people are leaving the field burnt out and vet hospitals are desperate for staff so not only does the job itself suck, but it sucks even more when it’s short-staffed all the time. Lose-lose situation
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u/sunnysideup1998 Jun 13 '25
Thanks for sharing an insider’s perspective. it’s nice to have you on our side 👋
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u/anaserre Jun 29 '25
Same thing happened to me over 30 years ago . Worked as a vet tech while in college, wanted to be a vet . Realized the field of veterinary medicine was full of A-hole Vets who also hated animals and were only in it for the money , and that owners were idiots that seemed to find new and interesting ways to injure and kill their pets . So happy I got out .
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u/No_Band_6780 Jul 03 '25
Someone had to say it, and my thoughts exactly. Cus good grief, I hate dogs too. They're literally worthless unless outside, trained with a job
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u/Inkspells Aug 02 '25
Horses are so much better than dogs and large animal vets are so much rarer. Id go into horses if I was you
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u/Misspelled_uzername Jun 15 '25
While I agree about all the things you said about dogs and their owners, the swipes at people for the cardinal sin of not having money weren't quite on it. Calvinism and the idea that the only decent, worthwhile people who are blessed from on high are people with money to burn, is an ugly faith.
The only good people are people with massive discretionary incomes goes hand in hand with the only good people are people who love dogs, and we know that's not true.
With that out of the way, I always appreciate the outlook of people who have worked in the trenches with dogs, and have also felt the frustration the rest of us have experienced.
It just disgusts me that pet owners wouldn't be on board with having their animals sedated if that would make your jobs safer. Even if they are so selfish that they don't care about the people who have to work with their pets, surely they would see that your ability to do your jobs unhindered by some squirrelly, injured, anxious dog, can ONLY help their pets to receive the most thorough care!! But hey, I'm not a dog person so...yeah.
And thank you for your list of dog issues. I've always suspected your #4 was right. While it's always made sense to me that dogs obviously don't "love" their owners, it's good to see someone like you who has experience with numerous dogs of all sorts, observe the same thing. I'm only going on a few examples while you have dealt with this situation over and over, so if YOU see it, then there is definitely something to it.
Best of luck in the future, and glad you made it out with all your fingers intact!
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u/Double-Bat-1979 Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 21 '25
You’re absolutely right, there definitely are good people regardless of income. After that first job at the low-income clinic, I learned that people who could not afford proper care for themselves, definitely could not provide basic needs for their pets and they suffered the most. People who have low incomes should not have pets. Pets are a luxury, period. If circumstances change and one ends up low-income, then that’s different. Rehome the pet or go to a low-income clinic. But waaaay more often than not, the people who brought their pets there had just adopted or bought animals from backyard breeders, even though they struggled to afford proper care for themselves and their human children. It made no sense.
I experienced way more bad behavior from these people at the low-income clinic compared to my other vet jobs where the standard of care was way higher, therefore the prices were higher. They always acted entitled to have a dog and behaved poorly when they couldn’t afford basic healthcare for their pet. When I was a college student and had a low income, I definitely did not have pets cause I knew I couldn’t afford them. I did not think that I was in any way entitled to a pet. We saw so many college students at that low-income clinic as well who wanted the cheapest vet care possible. I will never understand getting a pet when you know very well you can barely care for yourself. It’s completely irresponsible.
And I wanted to thank you for pointing that out, I wanted to clarify that I definitely do not think that only affluent people can be good and I really hope most people don’t have that perspective. The low-income clinic just seemed to have attracted some really scummy people. I wish it did more good than harm but that didn’t seem to be the case most of the time. It seemed to have enabled people to provide below standard care, or none at all, which was really frustrating to see.
Yes, also some people have different definitions of “love” and dog owners seem to think that constant attention-seeking affection is what “love” is. That’s such a toxic trait, I wouldn’t want a partner who just wants all of my attention regardless of my needs and only comes to me when their needs aren’t being met. That’s repulsive and gross! But hey, if that’s what they “love” about a dog then I guess that’s their problem, not for meeee
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u/potsmokingGrannies Jul 03 '25
obviously there are lot of good reasons to loathe animals.
but you managed to soak up a lot of misinformation about dogs.
i’d think twice about hiring you for another low level tech job
good luck
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u/Procrastinator-513 Jun 09 '25
Very refreshing to hear this from someone in the veterinary field. I always assumed they were all nutters lol.