Love for their pets puts owners at risk of being fleeced

THE HIGH PRICES charged by pet hospitals show the high demand for their services and the lack of veterinarians. The authorities encourage the training of more vets and strengthen supervision of pet hospitals to ensure pet owners are not being exploited. Legal Daily comments:

There are many problems, including high charges and unlicensed people practicing veterinary medicine in some pet hospitals, which are cause for complaints among pet owners.

Media reports show that veterinary medicine for pets is a sector that lacks sufficient regulation and supervision. The medical treatment for pets can cost their owners several thousand yuan. And the charges for the same medical treatment can vary widely among different pet hospitals. In some pet hospitals a medical treatment may cost only a few dozen yuan, while another may charge thousands of yuan. Moreover, there are people without a veterinarian license practicing medicine in pet hospitals.

As people's incomes have risen, more and more people keep pets and even treat them as family members. Studies show that in 2017 there were 250 million pets in China, which results in a huge market for veterinary medicine.

Pet hospitals are different from people's hospitals, because they are not a public service. Therefore the prices charged by pet hospitals are decided by the market rather than the government. As long as pet hospitals do not violate pet owners' legal rights, their high prices are not illegal.

However, the authorities should promote the training of more vets to better meet the demand. Meanwhile, the pet medical treatment supervision department should enhance its supervision to make sure the prices for medical treatments are clearly marked in pet hospitals.