Diary of a Real-Life Veterinarian: The Shame Of Pro Bono

A follower on our Jarrettsville Veterinary Center FaceBook page summed it up well;

"A lawyer doesn't get shamed for providing free services.. vets shouldn't shame other vets for offering low cost care."

...and yet these are some of the comments left about me after a post advocating for pet parents to find other options elsewhere if they meet overwhelming obstacles. There is a storm of change brewing and it will include transparency, options to seek care elsewhere, and low cost options targeted at avoiding economic euthanasia.

Here's the post I put up on Jarrettsville Vet Facebook.

Here's some of the comments from a veterinary group that took opposition to it.

Here's what medical doctors say about you when you offer others free care, low cost care, and advocate for the patients we all came here to care for.

"she's a holier than thou piece of shit."

"Disney villian movie wish."

"magnific-u-next-Tuesday."

"bless her vacant, soulless, narcissistic heart."

"she's an asshole."

For all of the arduous effort it has taken to actually start talking about offering a spectrum of care within veterinary medicine, we sure aren't helping those who are actually doing it.

I put up another post that talked about a pet who was given a $7-8,000 estimate for an exploratory surgery. The pet parent had $700. We found them a place a few hours away that did the surgery for $300. When I shared it a group of vets got pretty furious assuming I was bad mouthing the original ER. Sounded like a lot of guilty conscious redirected aggression to me.

On some of the posts I have put up there are vets who "wish me to go under as I give everything away."

Or, accuse me of poor pay, workplace standards and care, and presume I can only do this because I have "family money."

There are a million little reasons I am here. Broadcasting affordable care as a practice owner. Promoting the ethos that you can do good and do well. Sharing real-life examples in the faces of the angry mobs of doubting Thomases.

Pro Bono care is an option in every single scenario at our clinic. There are so many instances where our team members mental health supersedes the income generated from a good or service. Pro Bono euthanasia is the primary best case example. If a patient is suffering, has a grave prognosis and you feel it is in the best interest of all we donate a euthanasia.

We also provide pro bono care for long time clients in need of assistance. Homeless pets, and almost daily a case that just needs a little extra help. Xrays are done if the vet feels it will help them sleep better at night and not worry. We remove obstacles so that everyone can feel better about the choices and care we give. Why? This is a hard job and if we can help make it easier, less stressful, and get to happier endings together than we do it as a team.

Any pet who is brought to us is given options. There are at least three. We practice what we preach. We have some significant advantages at our clinic. We have been here for over 80 years. We know almost all of our clients, and have known them for a very long time. We know what they can do, will want to do, and what they need from us. Some will always take a referral if needed. Some will never go. Some cannot afford to go. We offer, talk about options, and every decision is a discussion. There is almost never a discussion about Gold Standard, or any kind of incremental care. We listen, talk, and we trust each other. There are written report cards that summarize every exam. We write down the current patient plan and a next step plan. We give written estimates on any plan we propose. We list our prices on our website. I advocate for transparency in pricing and therefore I post them. I also list most of my surgeries on Pawbly.com Storylines section. Real-life cases with the complete itemized list of the procedures costs.

The backlash of being a bit of a rebel for the best interest of our patients and their families has been dizzying. The profession is advocating openly (finally a decade after it became a viral video plea) and even promoting how this can be done in our December 2025 JAVMA (our professional journal), but, we are expected to do this quietly. Don't rat on your colleague who charges $7,000 for a pyometra even though they aren't a specialist, and know it is a third of the cost in 12 hours 5 miles away.

There is a storm brewing. It is a hailstorm of greed, shame, ugly insults, and denying care if it is not profitable for them.

Why is there so much nastiness towards me, and why are so many others who also offer pro bono, low cost care so quiet? Well, just look at the names you get called if you are on the side of our patients.

Here's the video that started all of this hatred.