Stupid people!

[draggonlaady]

Someone please explain to me just what the )(#@$ is wrong with people!!!
I just (yes, 11 PM!) got a call from a woman that wanted to know if she could bring in a wild bird for me to look at that she and her friends found earlier in the day while they were outside playing. That's all fine and dandy, but when I warned her that there'd be an emergency office call fee for that, the response was "I don't have $70 to save some stupid wild bird!"
Then she wanted to know if I thought it had the bird flu. Possible, but probably not the one everybody's scared of, what with that not being on this continent yet. "So what do you think is wrong with it?" 'Cuz I've got a magic crystal ball I can just look through and tell you without actually examining the animal.
Hell, they can't even figure out what species it is. "Maybe a quail or a pheasant or something" she says...cuz those two birds look anything similar beyond the fact that they both have feathers and feet. For all I know from her description it's a Kiwi bird that someone dropped out of an airplane.

OK, first off, $70 is a pittance for an emergency fee--I got smacked with a $500 bill for walking into the emergency room in Spokane. But onto the things that really annoy me: why did you call me at all if you're not willing to pay for anything? Why did you wait until after most working people are asleep to call when you found the bird several hours ago? What did you think I was going to do, drop my life (boring as it is) to come in after I'm already in my pajamas so I can not get paid for my time and effort? It's a business, not a charity, people. Let's join the real world please.

Comments

[khiril.livejournal.com]

They probably ended up just eating it, anyway.

BBQ.

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

hey, pheasant and quail are both pretty tasty :)

[(Anonymous)]

...so let's play with the cute 'n fuzzy until it's hungry, cold, and/or nearly dying. i love that philosophy, espeically when it's a "quail or pheasant or something" that do so well in human hands. but please let's not put forth any effort to do the right thing and help the creature (if it even needed it) when it was still half way healthy.
as an attempt to restore your faith in rehabilitation: a mother and two daughters brought a juvenile cottontail to a particular referral clinic at 8pm shortly after their cat brought it to them (although apparently not immediately). the lovely thing couldn't maintain a regular heart rhythm or fight to get off the scale, but our dedicated intern still planned to treat the thing. it wasn't until she discovered the exposed thorax and lung and the poor bunny was nearly dead (many wounds to examine) that she elected to grab the kcl and make GHO food. (one of the seven or so GHOs present has so many neuro signs that it doesn't react until you smack its tail a few dozen times; soon it will be in the rodent haven in the sky.) unfortunately, the powers that be will scarcely allow more than fluid therapy and abx to aid wildlife anymore (if they want to find their financial sink hole, they should probably check their overdue bills)....
*just not a user

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

yeah. i was pretty frustrated with them. they didn't bring it in this morning while we were open, either--i expect it died overnight, but guess i'll never know. and it's not like i wouldn't have tried to help it. if they'd brought it in yesterday during office hours and didn't want to pay, i'd have taken it to see what i could do on my own, but it makes me cranky when they wait until i'm getting ready for bed (and i haven't slept well all week) to call and then act shocked and horrified that i won't just rush back in and not charge them anything.

yah. baby bunnies don't come off so well against adult cats :( GHO?

hehe... yeah, i wonder if that asshat ever paid for the 3 week stay and neuro surgery we did on that sweet old dobie. that was about a $6000 bill that i think the guy walked out on. doesn't take too many of those to add up to something nasty.

say hi to the kids for me. and your baby too :) oh-- news-- 2 of my cousins are pregnant, one due in august and the other in october. so i'm making lots of baby blankets!

[(Anonymous)]

GHO = great horned owl
the kids are doing pretty well, although maynard still needs sedation (and no ace will do him) for a nail trim. poor beast. sid is still taking his meds like a champ, and getting people time in evenings when the babe is in bed, and sleeping.
the babe is a whopping 25" and 20lbs of wanna-be-a-man-now, and absolutely hilarious. i have the first two weeks of september off (and senior paper writing to do) if you want to come for a visit. he doesn't travel well, so we stay put unless necessary.

[draggonlaady.livejournal.com]

don't know about visiting... i'm taking a week and a half in late august to go to a friend's wedding in georgia, so i don't know that i could get away again so soon :(