[bavanie]

My name is Bavanie. On the 13th of February, I sent my female dog, Kimi of 1 year and 4 months to K9 Veterinary Centre & Emergency Care for spaying (ovariohystorectomy). The vet, Dr Gowri a/p Gunasegaran said that the she needs to keep Kimi for two days after the operation. I agreed to everything, signed a document and gave a deposit of RM50. She told me it would cost RM150 to 180.

On the 15th of February, at 10am I called Dr Gowri to inquire on Kimi's situation and was told that she had eaten and she was fine. I told Dr Gowri that I would fetch Kimi before 7pm. When I went there, she quickly brought me to the reception, showed me the bill, explained to me that Kimi lost an amount of blood due to the enlargement of her fallopian tubes and ovaries but she managed to stop it by giving some medication. She then showed me the billed amount of RM300 which was far different from what she had promised at the begining. Without giving me the receipt, she brought me to see Kimi in the consultation room and I was shocked to see her in such a condition. Kimi's eyes were terribly red (like she never had sleep) and she was growling. When I touched her, Kimi bit me so hard that I bled a bit. She was also very wet and the assistant was wiping her. When I asked Dr Gowri, she said that they had to wipe her as she had blood stains on her. Dr Gowri insisted that I bring Kimi back and said that Kimi might be having behavariol problem because she missed home. However, I refused as I could see Kimi suffering. She sat quietly for a while then she jumped while growling and barking at her tail (or back). I was so shocked of that sight that I asked Dr Gowri to keep her for one more day and make sure she gets enough medication and care so that she's cured. I did not care about the money. All I wanted was my baby to be back home safely. Dr Gowri promised to visit Kimi in the night after she closed down at 8pm.

At 10.30 pm I called Dr Gowri and she told me that she was on the way. When I asked if I can come to visit, she asked me to wait until further notice. At 10.40pm she called me and said that Kimi was under fits and she 'is' trying to revive Kimi. Then she said “I'm sorry I tried my best”. That would mean that she was trying to save Kimi while talking to me on the phone. Is that safe? Kimi passed away after going through such a normal procedure. I was devasted and so was my family. We brought her to the Animal Medical Centre in Jalan Tun Razak immediately after that and was told by the doctor that they don't do post-mortem. I was told that even if I brought Kimi to UPM the next day for post-mortem it would be too late as she would have decomposed. Therefore, I brought her to my father's house and burried her on his land at about 1.30am.

The next day, my father in law went to take the bill from her and demanded for a medical report for Kimi's death. She told us that since her assistant was away, she could only give a medical report on the 17th. On the 17th I went there and consulted her over her negligence. She told me she did not perform any blood test prior to the anaesthetic which I was told was a normal procedure in the Animal Medical Centre in Jalan Tun Razak. Her explanation was different doctors follow different procedures. Don't you all have a standard procedure? I also asked her if she consulted any other vet as she told me that she was not sure why Kimi behaved that way and wat was the reason behind Kimi's death. She told me that she consulted a vet in Taman Segar (Tropic Vets if i'm not mistaken). When I asked her for her medical certificate, she told me that she only kept the expired one in the clinic and the renewed one was at home. I insisted that she bring it the next day along with the medical report for Kimi. She also doesn't have her license displayed in the clinic. I wonder what is Majlis Perbandaran Klang doing.

Today, on the 18th, I collected the report and saw her medical certificate which I'm not sure if it's real. The medical report stated that she did not carry out the surgery on the 13th because her clinic was busy and starved Kimi again overnight and did the surgery on the 14th. Until now, I don't know what was the reason for her death. All I know is my Kimi died over such a normal procedure. I sent in a perfectly healthy dog and I got back a carcass. Is this what I get when I put 100% trust on vets? Why is it that we have vets who are so money crazy and not bother about the animals they have under their care? I have forwarded this letter to certain departments in the hope that someone can give me an explanation for this or take action over this matter.

Previously I have also brought some golden retriever puppies to her clinic as they had skin problem. She shaved their hair and gave me cream to apply on them. The problem got worse and I had to send them to a different doctor who gave injection and after that they were fine. She told me that it's not safe to give injection. If that was the case why did the other doctor give? I dont understand why you have so many different procedures. I know that we only have one Veterinary Institute in Malaysia and that it is in UPM. Do they change your syllabus every year?


I once worked in a veterinary clinic and many of the doctors told me that veterinary was not their first option. They were forced to this course if they wanted to study in public universities. Even I tried applying for Diploma Kehutanan dan Kehaiwanan after my SPM (which I obtained 10A's in) but was unable to get through. Why don't we have other public institutions offering this course? Why don't we have private institutions offering this course? This way we would have vets who really care about animals. Our Malaysian Education System, in some way reflects “1 Malaysia” as it has only “1 Institut Perubatan Veterinar”.

Every day animals are dying because of veterinarian's negligence. In Malaysia, we, pet owners can't do anything about it as so little consideration is given to animals. But I am not going to leave this alone. Animals are also god's creation. They deserve much better than what they are getting now. I believe that those of you who have a heart will definitely do something about this post.

I wish to end my post with our nation's latest quote “1 Malaysia” extending it to “1 Species”.