Talk about a close call. (See above video.) If Finnegan’s owners had let their dog be euthanized and had later found out about the misdiagnosis, not only would they be devastated, but chances are that they’d have little recourse against the vet.

If you have a 10-year-old mixed-breed dog, the value of that dog is generally considered to be under $100, Joyce Tischler, founder and general counselor for the Animal Legal Defense Fund, said in an excellent MSNBC report. It’s a sad situation, it’s an unfair situation for people who care about their animals and are quite shocked to find when their animal is killed or injured they cannot sue.

According to the article, pet owners and advocates say that when they’ve experienced veterinary medical errors of tragic proportions, they were “ignored, minimized or outright denied by a system that devalues the bond between pets and their owners and fails to hold veterinarians sufficiently accountable when they make mistakes.”

The MSNBC report tells of a dog whose vet operated on the wrong leg, and a cat accidentally overdosed by a vet with 10 times the amount of insulin he needed. The cat was left blind, with crippling seizures, and severe brain damage until his death.

It goes beyond heartbreak, said Stefani Olsen, whod had the 15-year-old cat since he was a kitten.

The report says that up to 80 percent of complaints about veterians to state boards never amount to anything. It goes fairly indepth about the issue, and is a worthwhile read.

Please bark back if you’ve had any experiences along these lines. We’d like to learn more.