Edmonton woman angry over unexpected vet fees

An Edmonton woman is angry after a vet charged her an extra $100 to stay in the room as her dog was put down.

Donna Abeqq rescued her basset hound, Dodger, 16 years ago when she found him frozen to a deck in the middle of winter.

“I went to see [the owner] and asked ‘what are you doing with him?’ and they said not keeping him… so I took him,” she said.

Two days ago Dodger got so sick he could no longer walk.

Knowing it was time to put Dodger down, Abeqq took him to Edmonton Veterinarian's Emergency Clinic where he was euthanized.

Afterward, Abeqq received a bill for $386.

She called the vet clinic to inquire.

Abeqq says she was told extra charges were added because she chose to stay in the room with Dodger as he died.

“They said ... ‘ it would have been cheaper than if you would have left,’” said Abbeq.

While the clinic declined to speak with CBC News on camera, a representative said costs are set by Alberta’s Veterinarian Medical Association.

At vet clinics across the province, pets are first sedated if owners stay with the animal when it is euthanized.

In Abbeq’s case, the cost of sedation came to about $100 – but she says no one ever told her that.

“I never got that option,” she said “No one said anything to me.”

“I paid it, but could you imagine being told ‘if you don't have the money, you can leave, we'll take care of him?’ He's been with me 16 years – how do you walk away and let him die with strangers?”

The clinic has since refunded Abbeq the difference in cost.