Our experience with Lort Smith was generally disap...

Our experience with Lort Smith was generally disappointing, apart from those few lovely and caring veterinary nurses we interacted with whose focus was the animals best interests.
Otherwise the veterinarians are either pressured by the organisation or individually regard profit as their salient motivator.
The fees for medications and diagnostic tests undermine the rights of animals to receive accessible and high-quality care.
Our dog was discharged with a diagnosis which did not explain the acute collapse she experienced. Whilst we are grateful that the basic treatment applied resulted in her recovery, it would have been shocking had we accepted the diagnosis and offer of euthanasia as one of the options.

The veterinarian provided inconsistent explanations for her condition, revealing either breakdowns in communication amongst staff or ignorance. The fees for treatment are consistent with a superior and flawless standard of care yet this is not so. No vet was available on discharge so there was no discussion about the excessively high cost of medications prescribed nor that some of these were available over-the-counter at retail pharmacies. The lack of empathy for people who regard their animals as part of the family and who, though not qualifying for health care card concessions, may not be in a financial situation, is a worring reflection on the fact that a love and respect for other animals cannot be defined by the individual's socio-economic status.

This facility promotes itself as a provider of Emergency Care yet the disappointing and concerning reality is that the availability of other than basic diagnostic investigations is restricted to Monday - Friday office hours unless the 'specialist vet' is available out of hours and the client agrees to pay above the usual, already inflated fee for these procedures.
This is not how an emergency facility operates and it reflects poorly on the rights of non-human animals that inequitable restrictions are insitu.

A major contributor to the abandonment of animals is the exorbitant cost of veterinary treatment . The animals awaiting adoption in the Lort Smith facility is therefore hugely ironic. Lort Smith is a central and large facility which sells itself as being progressive and 'for the animals'.

Research has indicated that veterinarians are a cohort which experience a high rate of suicide. The incongruent attitudes manifested by this profession would have to be a factor. An infinite number of animals are killed (euthanised) due to their human being unable to afford the fees quoted to treat them.
For the sake of the animals, their carers and also the vets' welfare, there is an urgent need to address the negative effects of the high health care costs on all involved.
The staff of Lort Smith are well placed to campaign for standardised and subsidised health care costs, so why are they failing to do so?