Something amazing often happens to a limp at the first sign of an impending vet visit. Fluffy and Fido are suddenly “healed.” If not upon recognition of the carrier or when hoisted into the car, then magically…after beholding the sights, smells and sounds of their veterinarian’s establishment.

It invariably infuriates my clients. “I tell you, she’s been limping all weekend!” The frustration...

It happens everywhere, not just in Miami. Every day, veterinarians are asked to be arbiters of disputes between family members, spouses, neighbors, puppy park dwellers and other veterinarians’ theoretical malfeasance.

The words “law,” “legal,” “police,” and “evidence” are bandied about, making us extra-cautious about everything that enters the medical record—how we say it and in what detail...