Big Tujunga Veterinary Hospital

Yesterday it came time for our Lab, Buddy, to be sent on his journey over the Rainbow Bridge.
My husband made an appointment with Dr. Ancu at Big Tujunga Vet Hospital to help us with this difficult decision. We started going to Dr. Ancu about 13 years ago after we had moved to the area and rescued Buddy. Back then the doctor seemed more caring of the animals. That soon changed to just wanting the money. Over the years we found another Vet who was a God send but farther away so we only went to Ancu only for shots and when absolutely necessary. All he seemed to care about was raising his prices and piling on the unnecessary tests. Unfortunately for him we know more than a little about medicine, disease process and pharmacology (thanks in large part to the other vet that took the time to help educate us). Many of the things he wanted to do were just ridiculous. We assumed that he could handle this task. We were wrong.
After arriving at his appointed time he had to wait with our Buddy on his lap for the staff to get around to finally moving them into an exam room. Then the wait continued. Please remember that for a pet owner that this is the most difficult decision one has to make for their loved one. We had made the decision that as long as Buddy’s pain was manageable we would keep him comfortable and happy as long as we could. But the time had come when his quality of life had come to an end. There was no reason to be guilted into running further tests and doing procedures that would only rack up costs as Buddy was filled with tumors, wouldn’t eat and had lost most of his muscle mass. This did not stop Ancu from trying to squeeze more money out of us. He finally gave Buddy the tranquilizer to “relax” him and said he would be back in 10 minutes. He did not so much as touch the dog to guess weight. After the shot he left the room saying he’ be back in 10 minutes leaving us alone. The dose was too strong and he went into seizures. Buddy had no history of seizures and was actually very relaxed just from being held. Tranquilizer overdoses will cause seizures. The tranquilizer is also the cheaper of the drugs used in euthanasia. I’m sure he doesn’t realize I know this. After more than 20 minutes Ancu returned to administer the final cocktail. By this time Buddy was almost gone due to the overdose. When Ancu gave Buddy the cocktail and pronounced that his heart had stopped, Buddy started snorting like he couldn’t breathe. Not just the sigh that they normally make before drifting off. After it was finally over my husband was approached again in the attempt to guilt him into paying an insane price to have Buddy’s ashes retuned. No thank you. $250 for 2 injections was quite enough! He is in our minds and our hearts.
Bear in mind this is not the first bad experience at Big Tujunga. As an old dog he needed special care in grooming. We’d taken him in a few months previously for a simple bath. He came back knotted, sore and generally looking worse than when he went in. The treatment of the reception staff and assistants was rude, condescending and abusive. At the time we cut Ancu some slack due to his not being on premises at the time. We should have known better. The body follows where the head leads and this head has delusions of his own importance and superiority. The staff follows his example.
Please research this Vet for your family pet’s sake before just going to some one that is conveniently located. There are many of them in the Sunland, Tujunga , LaCrescenta, Glendale area. Dr. Ancu is more concerned with making money than caring for your pet. His understanding of medicine is a joke compared to our preferred vet. In closing keep in mind that if a Vet cannot efficiently and caringly end a lif...

Dr. Ancu is wonderful