Over the Air wrote: I had a very interesting discussion yesterday with an industry insider regarding the high costs of veterinary bills for owners. He tells me that there are vets who give kickbacks to trainers on the amount billed and paid by owners in their yards. These kickbacks apparently take the form of cash and/or treatment of horses who the trainer has an interest in.
I wonder if the high fees charged by vets have ever been the focus of an investigation by either the veterinary council and/or the Jockey Club?
Go on ...name and shame, or this just looks like another fake news headline.
Would be useful to all owners if even one "insider" would present compelling evidence , even anonymously, to give the SAVC or jockey club more than hearsay to even think about an investigation. Even then I would suspect only an individual trainer or complicit veterinarian would likely be found wanting.
Thinking about it, the only situation I would have any suspicion in this regard, is where the Veterinarian presents the bill to the trainer, rather than the individual owner. Volume discounts or discounts for good payment rewards may then not be passed onto the owners but retained by the trainer, which in turn may encourage the trainer to request more services to increase discounts and so on. Driving up owner vet costs unnecessarily.
That would make things difficult for the SAVC to prove a case against the vet and although poor form by the trainer would not be anything other than a bad PR move if exposed.
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