Deathtrap Vet

Let me begin by saying this: it is not my intention to slander anyone's name or reputation but to raise awareness. To prevent a future family from experiencing the pain that myself and my husband have experienced. We took our beautiful ****er Spaniel, Daphne to the Midrand Veterinary Hospital to get spayed. What should have been a simple procedure has led to the death of my beautiful baby girl. It has led to my girl being brought back to me in a box. We took her in on Friday, the 28th of September 2018 to Dr Zimmerman for her spaying. She phoned me and said everything went well with the operation. We collected Daphne and went home. We monitored her closely and on Monday we noticed not all was well with Daphne. We noticed that she was struggling to use the bathroom and by Tuesday when she did finally go, we saw that her faeces was ******. Daphne did not want to eat or drink water but we kept Daphne hydrated by giving her water by syringe and decided to take her back to Dr Zimmerman first thing on Wednesday morning as we were worried that she had caught a stomach bug. When my husband, Ruaan took her back to Dr Zimmerman the first thing she asked him was if she was Vaccinated against the Parvo Virus. Daphne had two of her Vaccinations. We missed the booster Vaccination by 6 weeks which we accept full responsibility for but let me educate you on the Parvovirus...

The Parvovirus is extremely contagious and can be transmitted by any person, animal or object that comes in contact with an infected dog's urine, saliva or faeces. The only place this would have been possible was at Dr. Zimmerman's facility. Daphne is a single dog and she hasn’t been in any contact of any other dogs except at this vet. The virus attacks cells in a dog’s intestines and stops them from being able to absorb vital nutrients. Dr Zimmerman confirmed Daphne had contracted the Parvo virus and Daphne was hospitalised and quarantined.

Now when you think quarantined you think a separate area which is sterilized and built for high care. Let me tell you it felt like a broom closet with a sink and 5 built in cages. There lay Daphne, cold on the floor with newspaper and a single blanket to lay on. She had a drip and I was shocked to see how quickly she had deteriorated. We were allowed to touch her but Dr Zimmerman gave no information on what the Parvovirus is or what her treatment plan would be. She gave no indication of what medicine she would be giving Daphne. When we asked her how the outlook was she simply rep**** that she learned to remain neutral. We went there twice a day to see our girl. We took a cloth to wipe her face down so she could feel fresh and her favourite ball so she would have some comfort. At no point ever did we wear gloves or masks nor did Dr Zimmerman ask us to wash our hands, which we did as we had brought our own bleach so that we didn't contaminate anything. The only form of sanitation that Dr Zimmerman ever showed was by us cleaning shoes on a foot sanitation pad. In all honesty, it felt like Dr Zimmerman was avoiding us as everytime we were there she was nowhere to be seen. We asked the receptionist, Lauren to call her so we could ask for an update on Daphne. Again, Dr Zimmerman gave us little to no information stating again that she could not give an opinion on Daphne's condition. On Friday morning, when we got there we were happy to see that Daphne was looking better and she even wagged her tail when she saw us. When we went back there on Friday afternoon, I was distraught to see Daphne looking worse. Again, we had to ask Lauren to see Dr Zimmerman. Again, when we asked her about Daphne's condition she said she couldn't give an opinion. No options were given if we wanted to move her to a 24-hour clinic. No professional opinion was given even though we were paying for her professional opinion. No indication from her that Daphne's condition was critical. No indication from Dr Zimmerman on why Daphne's breathing was so heavy. Dr Zimmerman kept us in the dark and gave us no information. Information that was important for us as her parents to make a informed decision. Every bit of information about the Parvo virus we had to research ourselves. Not once did Dr Zimmerman give us a treatment plan or what we could expect in the coming days when we first brought Daphne in. On Saturday morning, I received the dreaded phone call that Daphne died during the night. My girl died alone in an empty room because there was no night staff. I had to make the most painful phone call of my life to my husband to tell him that our girl had died. We arrived 30 minutes later at the vet to see Daphne's body. Dr Zimmerman met us and was again, cold and showed no compassion. When we asked to see Daphne’s body, They had to go fish Daphne out of a dustbin because they threw her in a black bin bag and disposed of her like a piece of trash in a dustbin outside. There on the grass next to a washing line and dustbin full of God knows what, was where I had to say goodbye to Daphne. I had to cry on the grass with my husband over her dead body. They didn't even have the decency to clean her up. She still had her drip in her. She was covered in blood from her paws to her backside. She had blood coming out her nose and her bum. I had to swat the flies away from my girl as we sat on the grass crying over Daphne’s body. There was no compassion towards Daphne. They threw her in a dustbin without consulting us on what we would like to do with her remains. The part time receptionist that we saw as we leaving after seeing Daphne was standing there with a speed point with a smile on her face. We saw Daphne twice a day every day and they did not think we would want to see her body... to say goodbye to our girl which I can honestly say was the hardest experience of my life. I say this again; I am not here to slander anyone but Dr Zimmerman in my personal opinion, does not have the compassion or the right to practice as a vet. A doctor would have not done what she has done to our girl. A vet would have given us information to base our decisions on. A vet would have given Daphne the dignity she deserved. She would of given the Daphne the respect she deserved.

Daphne, I am sorry for what you went through. I am sorry that you died alone in a cold room. I am sorry I let Dr Zimmerman operate on you. I am sorry I let Dr Zimmerman treat you for a virus that you contracted in her care at her facility. I will always have the guilt for what we did to you by taking you to Dr Zimmerman. Most of all Daphne, I am sorry for ever taking you to Midrand "Veterinary Hospital".

Please share Daphne's story so that we can prevent future families from experiencing the horror that we did. Please share Daphne's story so that our girl did not die in vain.

We love and miss you Daphne. Our girl. Our Crocodile.