Does anyone else find this odd/worrying?

MaisieMoo

Well-Known Member
Oct 19, 2007
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Or perhaps I'm just being overly worried?

I have just registered with a new vet this morning - reason being that I want to get C chipped ASAP(all this talk of horse stealing is making me nervous) and the vet in question is due to come to my yard today to see one of the other horses.

I've registered and paid over the phone and the vet will chip my boy today even though C's passport and therefore my proof of ownership will not be available (it's in my house as I didn't know about the vet visit until this morning)

I offered to provide his passport number if they needed to confirm ownership but they said that was ok they didn't need this.

Is it just me or is it slightly worrying that they are willing to perform work on a horse having never seen proof of ownership or am I just being silly? It just seems like I could easily have phoned up to register a horse that wasn't mine and have it treated?:confused:
 
My vet did exactly the same thing. The passport was still in the old owners name (that of my old YO) and the vet was happy to microchip Tyler.

I never even questioned, but now you mention it, that is a bit worrying. In saying that, the YO was present so could confirm that I was to be the new owner
 
I wouldn't find it worrying as I'm sure few horse theives would go to the expense of calling out a vet to chip their stolen horse plus he is also already visiting the yard so must find you trustworthy enough not to request the passport. Although, I leave your passport in with him to updated.
 
Passports aren't proof of ownership so I can understand why they aren't bothered passports are useless items
 
yep kaisers had all his vaccs etc done before i got passport through, its still in breeders name but will be getting changed shortly, they never bothered as others have said, passport is not proof of ownership
 
Blue got teeth done, vaccinations and microchipped in one fell swoop - and I forgot his passport:rolleyes:. I had to post it off to the vets with a sae for them to return it. They didnt question me not having it, and I didnt think at the time....
 
when i bought my first pony she was micro chipped (just before the passport law came out) I had her for 5 1/2 years and in all that time my vet NEVER passed a scanner over her to check weather she had been stolen or if indeed she was micro chipped - that is why i would never bother having a horse chipped now! x
 
at the end of the day a vet is concerned in one thing only & that is payment :)
 
when i bought my first pony she was micro chipped (just before the passport law came out) I had her for 5 1/2 years and in all that time my vet NEVER passed a scanner over her to check weather she had been stolen or if indeed she was micro chipped - that is why i would never bother having a horse chipped now! x


I don't think checking ownership is part of a vet's job .... There was no reason to scan the horse unless you'd asked for it.

When I had Blondie vetted before buying her, she had no papers; it was the vet's idea to scan her and see if she was microchipped: she was, and I was able to track down her pedigree.
 
I don't think checking ownership is part of a vet's job .... There was no reason to scan the horse unless you'd asked for it.

When I had Blondie vetted before buying her, she had no papers; it was the vet's idea to scan her and see if she was microchipped: she was, and I was able to track down her pedigree.

I was lead to believe there was some sort of law that before an animal is chipped they must be scanned to see if there was already a chip ?
 
i've never been asked for a passport - well only at the vet school and i forgot it so it cant of been that important!

they should leave you a set of stickers with his microchip number on - one goes in his passport, not sure what happens to the rest - mine are in my hall drawers!
 
at the end of the day a vet is concerned in one thing only & that is payment :)

Errmmm...no, not really. :rolleyes: God, I hope that kind of generalisation doesn't hit me when I become a veterinary nurse - not in it for the money, but to treat animals, with animals being my passion.

Anyway, for the OP, passports are, as others have said, not a form of proving ownership, although some vets still do ask for it.
 
at the end of the day a vet is concerned in one thing only & that is payment :)


:eek:Whilst I wonder about the motivation behind some of the decisions made by my canine vet e.g. we said no ointment, he opens tube and administers so we then have to buy it and takes x-rays only to refer Jake to the specialist who will take more x-rays etc...., I have only praise for my equine vet. After Boomer's accident last week, my vet was there with lots of lovely painkillers within 5 minutes of being called: he must have been speeding to get there so quickly. He correctly diagnosed which bone was broken and was just fabulous throughout. He phoned me using his private number to discuss options and give advice and kept himself informed all week about Boomer's progress. The vet at the RVC was also brilliant and helped me make the right decision about Boomerang: he could have pressed for more surgery or delayed but said he didn't want him suffering.
 
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im not saying vets are horrible people, we would all be a lil bit lost without them, but as we all well know the first thing they ask in any case is "are you insured" if your not insured they generally start telling you to remortgage your home rdy for paying the bill, i used to work at a vets practice myself i have afew vet friends but i also know the extreme fees they charge are most the time WAY too high for what they do and how much the medication actually costs them, just my opinion :)

back on subject though yes they are supposed to scan your horse before chipping them, all mine were scanned before they was chipped as regards the passport i would imagine it has some hold over ownership as long as you have proof of who you are aswell and the details tally (not sure though we live in a pretty screwed up world now days)
 
Echo - passports are a proof if identification, not of ownership.

Alco echo whoever said that its not part of a vets job to check ownership. I can order veterinary treatment on horses under my care, even if I am not legally the 'owner' (liveries/loans etc).

And whoever said vets are only in it for the money - I am flabbergasted. I reckon you'd change your tune pretty quickly if your horse had a veterinary emergency.
 
I'd want the bar code for the chip in my passport though or it makes the whole passport chip thing useless.

Horses can end up with multiple chips otherwise.
 
i didnt say in it for the money i said "all they are interested in at the end of the day is payment" if you told them you couldnt pay see how quick they would treat your horse ie animal then,

and ive had horses 30 years had 2 emergencies already this year resulting in 1 being pts due to a freak accident in her stable which shattered 1 of her back legs to bits and unrepairable & that was only afew weeks ago.
so dont all jump on me thinking i have no compassion or know what its like to rely on vets for things vets have cost me quite afew thousands over the years and i have always managed to pay them somehow all i was doing was voiceing my opinion on what i see is correct, like wally said in a previous post vets aint like they used to be where they do all their work on the fields they insist on doing this & doing that & costing you thousands when most of the work can be done onsite just like they used to costing you half the price of what they charge now days
 
I have just exhausted the vet's supply of chip readers, they have found nothing on 5 horses whose passports clearly state they are chipped.

now if I was a vet and used the reader on these horses and it came up with nothing in the passport and nothing on the reader you'd bung another chip in.....woudn't you??

I'd feel the passport needed to be in the vet's hands so he could check he was chipping the right horse.

If I was dodgy and wanted to fob one horse off for another I could do the gypsies switch easily unless the vet checked the horse off against the passport and put the chip number in the passport with the bar code.
 
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