h.a.r.p.e.r method

Here is an easy five-step method that can help pet owners find quality and competent veterinarians. It is called the HARPER Care Method, or—Help Animals Receive Proper Essential Restorative Care.  

1) Check the reviews on both Google Reviews and Yelp by looking for the names of the veterinary practices. Use the sort feature to get to the lowest rated one and two-star listings. Read ALL one and two-star listings and cross vets off your list that did something bad to a pet that you would not want to happen to your pet. Keep in mind that some businesses pay for and even post fake positive reviews to drive up their rating. That is why you look through the bad ones. 

2) Make sure that the veterinary practice is AAHA accredited. Simply enter your zip code. This national veterinary organization has much more rigorous standards than the state minimums. 

3) Check your state’s veterinarian licensee directory here, which lists the vets’ discipline database. Arizona’s is here. You search by the veterinarians’ name. Any case that resulted in disciplinary action should be listed. Knowing how rare disciplinary action by vet boards are, this helps narrow your list. 

4) Check to see if the practice was recently sold. If it was, and the practice passed the first three steps, you have to realize that those passing grades applied to the former owner, who is no longer there. The new owner(s) may or may not perform to those high standards. Also check the vet in particular who your pet is assigned to. The practice might have been run by the same good people for a long time, but you get their new vet fresh out of school with no experience. Same thing, that new vet may or may not be good.

5) Find a place that is somewhat close and convenient to you. Ideally, the closest one to you that passes the first four steps.

Keep in mind that no method for anything is 100%, however, this method would have eliminated the vets who hurt Harper three times as they would have failed steps #1, #2 & #3. This method will surely help eliminate the bad vets in your area.