I've found that the people actually providing veterinary healthcare are some of the biggest animal lovers you're ever going to meet. They adore animals to frankly unhealthy degrees. If even the local family-owned vet clinic is also doing something, it's usually not because they want to exploit hurt animals and exploit you, it's motivated by the necessities of the industry.

In this case, non-payment is a huge issue for vets and they need to keep their doors open for everyone else that needs care. Running a specialty like emergency medicine is even more expensive and carries higher prices as a result. They don't want to deal with trying to collect after the fact. Hence, they'll usually give two options: Pay at the time of service or sign up for something like CareCredit that will pay the vet upfront and deal with the collections on the backend. Some places offer third options, but these are usually problematic or involve charities.