A tribute to our dear baby tortoise and treasure, Hosea, whose name means, 'Saviour'

Please indulge me as I recount the tragedy that had transpired last January 31, 2017, when my beloved pet, Hosea, a year-old Sulcata tortoise died due to the appalling cluelessness and heartlessness of a veterinarian taking cues from a supposed 'exotic pet veterinarian,' who was clearly only after profit, at the expense of my pet. This will hopefully be the last step before I close my period of grieving. I know that our dearest one, Hosea, is now in a far better place and he will never be forgotten. 

Before I continue on with my tribute for Hosea, I would like to state that whoever would challenge me about my complaints against VETS IN PRACTICE Mandaluyong are free to do so, for I have written proof, video recordings and messages from 7 other tortoise owners whose poor, helpless pets died in the same clinic, after being experimented on. This does not include the countless friends who told me that their pet dogs died in the hands of cruel veterinarians and handlers, in the same Vets in Practice clinic. Even the popular teen celebrity, Matteo Guidicelli's dog died in the hands of the mindless staff running Vets in Practice Alabang branch, but to this day, these proud and heartless people do not care to check how they can possibly improve and avoid these unwarranted, preventable deaths.

My family and I dearly loved and cared for four adorable tortoises. Sammy, our eldest is now little over 2 years old, while I received the blessing of Blitzen, Dollar and the littlest, Hosea, last year, just several months after they hatched. I even gave them second names, and created a Facebook page for them, to share the delight they bring us. 

I won't say that Hosea was my favourite, for each of them had really unique and endearing personalities, but for me, he was clearly the baby. Hosea was the smallest when we brought them home, but he had quickly overtaken Blitzen (the third biggest) in size. And even when Hosea had already grown noticeably bigger, I still considered him the baby. So, going back to that painful day, January 31, 2017, my brother noticed that Hosea was not his usual energetic self and he said that there was a slight indication of respiratory infection, or RI.

I panicked and I made the error of reaching out to various doctors, googling options, looking up exotic vets on Facebook, adding and messaging them. I made that fatal mistake of looking up Maurice, this 'exotic pet' veterinarian who told me to immediately rush Hosea - along with the others for they all must have been infected and must be confined. Doubt tugged at my heart. Confine ALL of them, right away? And without proper diagnosis or the interest to ask me what happened days before we noticed Hosea in a state of lethargy? But being stubborn and thinking that doctors should know best, I agreed to let my brother take only Hosea to Vets in Practice, Mandaluyong. This Maurice guy told us that he had already called Ralph, a non-exotic pet veterinarian. And this guy, Ralph, turned out to be a total nincompoop, carrying out guesswork and had immediately caused the death of Hosea. And the worst part? When he called me that night, he told us to just come back the day after, because his shift was already ending and the cashier was closed and we could only settle payments the next day. Heartless! He didn't care at all that my pet died! IT WAS ALL JUST BUSINESS. Just another day of guessing, killing, overdosing tortoises and shrugging his shoulders, dusting his bloodied hands clean!!! 

Along with my mom and my son, we rushed to the clinic, and it was already close to midnight. Imagine the hassle for me as I had work the next day and my son too had school. But no way we will leave Hosea in that slaughterhouse, Vets in Practice Mandaluyong, overnight! I won't even be able to sleep if I did that, so might as well rush to bring him back home! 

Looking back, when I was googling 'Vets,' these automatically would appear in Google search: “Vets in Practice Cremation.” Perhaps it does usually come out, but I noticed this and remembered how I told myself I should think hard, but then again, panic made me shrug it off; I failed to heed the signs. In my desire to get Hosea better, I resorted to this painful mistake. I didn't listen to my heart. 

I pray, Hosea, for forgiveness. The day after I would just keep crying as I would whisper, please forgive me, Hosea. I also apologise to some of my newfound friends, like Zik of Philippine Tortoise Enthusiasts, for not listening to him when he told me to not rush my pet to the vet yet, and just undertake alternative methods such as soaking, as my pet looked dehydrated and while he might have RI too, I could have waited until a more capable exotic pet doctor was on hand. Clearly, Hosea should not have been injected on. I didn't know then Hosea, please forgive me. 

In my eagerness that Hosea gets better fast, I had Hosea delivered to the hands of her cruel executioners who knew not the pain of losing a tiny animal, because (to my horror, only learning after Hosea’s death), that the same clinic, with the same exotic pet vet had been the ones who attended to their now deceased pet tortoises. During my first Facebook post, I have surprisingly received a ton of comments and messages from friends attacking the clinic because of a painful death of a pet which they felt could have been avoidable.

It's a shame that so many people, even celebs like Matteo Guidicelli complain against Vets in Practice, and yet the clinic STILL WON'T CARE, WON'T LEARN. They just disabled the comment button on their Facebook page so no one can rant against them. But people will still come, because people will always be in need, always be desperate, and like me, the wrong calls.
The facts are that this Ralph injected over 220 cc of fluids in my tortoise, Hosea. Of course, he denies this, but I have this photo, below. Also, he said over the phone that the cause of death was 'drowning,' accusing me of drowning my tortoise before we brought Hosea to the vet, but then why did you write down and say that we brought Hosea dehydrated? You would do your clinic JUSTICE if you changed your name to what you truly are - VETS IN MALPRACTICE! 

FACT: This vet, Ralph, had the audacity to accuse me of 'drowning' my Hosea prior to bringing him to the clinic. But the funny thing is that they accepted him in a state of 'dehydration.' I have proof of his accusation that I drowned my pet. ANO BA TALAGA KUYA - WE DEHYDRATED HIM BUT WE DROWNED HIM FIRST?!? During his final medical report - he said that the cause of death was due to respiratory infection. So I admit to raising hell in their clinic after it took him close to an hour to come up with the medical report. Editing much? Shouldn't the real cause of death be ready in the report? It took you forever to come up with the report because you were DOCTORING it?!?!? And it didn't help at all that I was screaming my head off in that clinic. You cruel people will still be open the next day, back to your killing sprees, but for me, the next day, Hosea will already be under the ground, leaving me and my family with broken hearts over his cruel, preventable death! 

All I am crying about was that the death of Hosea could have been avoided had these mindless, heartless vets been trained in proper care. About or more than 220cc was injected and while the vet claims was that he did not inject everything in, my question is how come my photos prove you had that much in? You just felt like wasting the medicine? SHAME ON YOU, FOR YOU HEARTLESS SO-CALLED VETERINARIANS AND HANDLERS NEVER LEARN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY OTHER TORTOISE OWNERS' PETS DIED FROM YOUR HANDS. WHY DO YOU OVERDOSE AND DO THESE THINGS ON THESE TORTOISES? BECAUSE YOU DON'T CARE TO UNDERSTAND, TO ASK WHAT HAPPENED PRIOR, TO THINK OUT OF THE BOX AND RESEARCH TO BETTER YOUR CRAFTS. YOU ARE DOCTORS FOR GOD'S SAKE AND JUST BECAUSE THERE AREN'T ANY STRONG RULES HERE TO PROTECT PETS AND JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE SO USED TO SO MANY PETS DYING IN YOUR CLINIC DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU ARE FAULTLESS AND THAT IT IS ALRIGHT! 

Call me crazy, weird, overacting, overreacting, papansin, dramatic, I don’t care. You will never feel the pain, the grief, the inexplicable loneliness, the sudden tears… until it happens to you. Hosea isn't a mere tortoise. He is a member of the family. These Vets in Malpractice guys don't even deserve to be called creeps! The word CREEP is far too good for you mindless and heartless jerks who think you are veterinarians when you are not! You have no genuine concern! Oh, and fun fact; by the way, this IS really a Creep... 

Our very own 'Creep' of the cutest li'l Tortoises, each with a distinct shell pattern and personality. This photo was taken back when we still had Hosea...

Dearest Hosea, though your name means 'saviour,' 'safety' and 'salvation,' the pain of not being able to save you still haunts me to this day. But we know that you are now with God in Heaven, where you will experience no pain nor sadness; where you are always safe. May you bring smiles to our saviour, Jesus Christ's loving face as He comforts you, for you are now in His hand... You will never be forgotten. You will continue to be loved by way of us caring more than ever for your three siblings, Sammy, Dollar and Blitzen.

Love always, 

Mary and Family