When my first dog got sick, I remember that I used to pray to a god I don’t believe in that I could give some of the years of my life to him. I remember countless visits to the veterinarian where they would tell us not to worry about the fact that my dog’s eyes were getting cloudier and cloudier or that he didn’t seem to be able to see what was in front of him. After about a year, they finally told us he was blind, but not to worry, it was just a symptom of his previously diagnosed diabetes, a common illness in schnauzers. After two years, they told us it was glaucoma. After three years, my dog died on the way to the vet from a football-sized tumor that had somehow gone unnoticed despite the fact that we spent more time at the vet’s office than we did anywhere else.

Countless times we had been told not to worry, and even when we brought him back a second time, a third time, a fourth time, because the problem didn’t seem to be getting any better, we were assured that nothing was wrong and that the veterinarians who we trusted with a member of our family were doing everything they could—except for running the necessary tests and procedures to accurately diagnose our dog. I have never felt more betrayed by someone of the medical profession as I did watching these veterinarians defy standardized procedures and refuse to run thorough checkups. I have never seen a doctor be able to get away with just outwardly not doing their job, but it doesn’t matter, because it’s only an animal, right?

Recently we took my second dog, Rori, to the vet for some bumps we noticed on her shoulder and stomach. Twice we took her to the vet (a different vet), and were told that these bumps were nothing to worry about. No one—not even the most experienced oncologists—can be sure that a suspicious lump is benign just by feeling it, and the standard procedure is to aspirate the growth.

I don’t know how any vet could possibly think that ignoring standard procedures and hoping for the best when they know they could be doing more is acceptable. I don’t know why these veterinarians went into this field if they really do not care about animals because it seems evident that someone who cared about animals would never let a pet walk out of that office without a thorough checkup.

Now these same veterinarians are back peddling, telling us that these bumps they assured us twice were nothing to worry about might be tumors. My three-year-old dog who we thought was perfectly healthy now might have cancer, and we have to schedule a biopsy immediately because the window of opportunity for catching this early is rapidly closing; in fact, it might already be closed.

I don’t know how you can look at a pet owner and take their money week after week while knowing something could be seriously wrong with their dog. I don’t know how someone who is supposed to care for animals can sleep at night knowing they may have jeopardized the life of an animal by being lazy and careless, and I don’t know how any medical professional can look at him or herself in the mirror knowing they are simply not doing their job.

I used to have the utmost respect for veterinarians for doing a job I knew I would never be able to do because I couldn’t handle seeing innocent animals on their last leg or sick pets on a daily basis, but that respect went out the window just as fast as the adequate procedures for treating animals did. This isn’t just one bad vet; this is multiple veterinarians who simply do not care enough to do their jobs correctly.

I’m sure there are vets out there that do actually care about animals and do everything in their power to ensure the well-being of their pet patients, but I am sad to say that I have never met one, and I don’t know if I ever will. The odds do not seem to be in my favor, and I can only hope that my dog does not have to suffer the consequences of blatant carelessness because she doesn’t deserve it. No pet does.