Reporting neglect cases

Re: Reporting neglect cases

Dippy — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:14:08 GMT

All I know is that the one we reported, we were advised that client confidentiality could be overridden if animal welfare was a concern, which it was. never heard the actual outcome but we (the practice) did make the complaint. Good luck.

Re: Reporting neglect cases

Purple_Hiccup — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:28:38 GMT

thank you for the replies, its regarding a few things that have come to my attention latly, clients and non clients, think ill go through rcvs and see what i can do. i just wanted to see if anyone else has ever reported on potential neglect cases, and i mean neglect through ignorence or money making which is detrimental to animals health not in terms of being cooped up ect.

Re: Reporting neglect cases

Katherine Spear — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:39:02 GMT

Id agree that speaking to the RCVS or the BVNA for advice is a good step as confidentiality isnt more important than animal welfare, just as in human medicine patient safety should come first. Id also agree that it will depend on the circumstances however so its definitely worth speaking to the RCVS or BVNA in confidence about your concerns.

Re: Reporting neglect cases

Dippy — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:13:13 GMT

Is it an animal you have become aware of within the workplace ie a client, or in your personal life? If the latter, the fact that you are an RVN is irrelevant as I see it - you are just like any other concerned member of the public reporting what you believe to be neglect. If it's a client, I would speak to your boss first. I have done it once and the vet's advice was to speak to the legal dept at RCVS to find out about breach of client confidentiality etc (which they advised we could do in the case of cruelty). If it's a client, I would definitely seek advice first. Difficult to know exactly where you'd stand without knowing the level of neglect eg are we talking about a dog left a few more hours each day than you consider appropriate or are we talking a dog in extreme distress/pain/underfed ? The latter would probably be far more likely to gain legal support than the former, which could be argued that it comes down to personal opinion, if you see what I'm trying to say.