100 ESSENTIALS OF VETERINARY LAW 



fact that a physician or surgeon has been called 

 in an emergency, and has rendered a service, gives 

 him no claim upon the future of the case. If the 

 patient, or, in the veterinaiy practice, the owner 

 of the animal injured, desires to make a change in 

 attendant he has a perfect right so to do, but he 

 should give notice thereof to the first attendant. 

 That such a practice exists among corporations 

 does not place an obligation upon other corpora- 

 tions to do the same. Where it is a well known 

 practice of a certain company to pay for first aid, 

 that practice should be considered as binding 

 upon the company until it shall give due notice of 

 a change of method; for acting upon the custom 

 of that company the physician, surgeon, or veteri- 

 narian might respond to a call and render service 

 when he otherwise would not do so. 



Likewise, it is the custom of certain companies 

 to employ their own medical and surgical attend- 

 ants; and in case of emergency, no matter by whom 

 called or notified, if the company surgeon attends, 

 the company pays the bill; but if another surgeon 

 be called the company does not pay the bill unless 

 it shall be shown that the company was respons- 

 ible for the accident. 



The call of the physician, surgeon, or veterina- 

 rian may be made by a policeman or other officer 

 of the city. This of itself does not imply that the 

 city will pay the bill. Unless there be some defi- 

 nite provision, either in the statutes of the state, 

 the ordinance of the city, or the resolutions of the 

 city council giving such officer authority to call 

 such professional attendants, his act Avill be con- 



