Veterinary release

1. What this document does

A pet cannot be treated without its owner’s permission, and an owner on a plane cannot give it. This page is that permission, given in advance, so that nothing has to wait for a phone call that is not being answered.

It forms part of my terms and conditions and takes effect when I confirm a booking. It covers that booking and any later booking, until you tell me in writing that you are withdrawing it.

2. The permission you are giving

You authorise me to obtain veterinary treatment for your pet if I believe it is needed, and you agree to pay for it.

That includes taking your pet to a practice, arranging transport, and agreeing to examinations, tests, medication, hospitalisation and surgery that the treating veterinarian considers necessary.

3. What I do, and in what order

1. I call you.
2. If I cannot reach you, I call the emergency contact you gave me.
3. If I cannot reach either of you and your pet needs help now, I go to the vet and keep trying to reach you on the way and afterwards.
4. I take your pet to your own veterinary practice when that is realistic. Outside its opening hours, too far away, or in a situation where minutes matter, I go to the nearest practice or emergency clinic.
5. I send you the diagnosis, the treatment and the invoice as soon as I have them.

If your pet is ill rather than in danger, I wait for you before anything is agreed, unless waiting would make things worse.

4. Who pays

All veterinary costs are yours, including the consultation, treatment, medication, out-of-hours charges and transport. Where I pay a bill on the spot, you reimburse me within 7 days, the same term as any other invoice.

Up to 250 euro I go ahead on your behalf. Above that I try again to reach you before anything else is agreed, unless your pet’s life or its freedom from serious pain depends on not waiting. In that case I authorise what the veterinarian advises and tell you straight away.

Tell me if your pet is insured, and give me the insurer and the policy number. A claim is yours to make, and a copy of the invoice from me is the thing your insurer will ask for.

5. Medication and existing conditions

• Send medication in its original packaging, with written instructions: what, how much, when, and how it is given.
• I give tablets, liquids, ear and eye drops and spot-on treatments. I do not give injections unless we have agreed it in advance and I have been shown how.
• Tell me about every condition your pet has, even one you consider settled: epilepsy, diabetes, heart or kidney disease, allergies, an old injury, anxiety, anything.
• I keep a note of what was given and when, and you get it at the end of the stay.

A condition I was not told about is the single most common reason a stay goes wrong. Section 12 of the terms says what follows from that.

6. What I need from you

• Your veterinary practice: name, address and telephone number.
• An emergency contact who is not travelling with you, with their telephone number, and who knows they have been named.
• Your pet’s insurer and policy number, if it has one.
• Your pet’s vaccination record and its chip number.
• A phone number on which you can actually be reached while you are away.

7. What this does not make me responsible for

Acting on this permission does not make me responsible for the outcome. I am not liable for a veterinarian’s decision, for the result of treatment, for a condition that already existed, or for the natural consequences of age or illness. The full picture is in section 12 of my terms and conditions.

Questions about any of this are welcome before a booking rather than during one: info@phoebes-place.nl, or WhatsApp. Reimbursement of a bill I paid follows the same 7-day term as every other invoice, as section 4 says.