BARK FROM THE DEAD
'Euthanize' pup sent back to shelter: shocked owner
A woman was shocked to discover that the sick dog she took to be euthanized was back at the shelter and up for adoption a year later.
Kristie Pereira, 32, was heartbroken when she was told that the most humane thing she could do for her beloved pet Beau was to put him down.
The digital marketer said she paid $450 to adopt her pup from the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation in 2022 while working from home in Maryland.
Beau was almost constantly by Pereira’s side, wagging his tail, but she soon realized that something was wrong. The puppy was unable to control his bowels and lift his hind legs.
Blood tests showed that Beau had a liver problem, but medications failed to lead to any improvements.
The dog’s veterinarian, the clinic’s lead doctor and an animal emergency-room vet eventually all agreed that the pup’s
symptoms pointed to a severe neurological problem, Pereira said. She said she was told further tests would cost as much as $12,000 — which she was willing to pay — but would only provide “a very slim chance of finding what is wrong” and “an even smaller chance of it being something that [doctors could] fix,” according to The Associated Press.
Heartbreaking choice
Running out of viable options, Pereira said she was told euthanizing the puppy would be the best solution.
Pereira held out for another month, hoping Beau’s symptoms would lessen but eventually decided to take the vets’ advice and put him down after several consultations with the staff at the rescue.
In late March 2023, Pereira said she took Beau to Montgomery County Animal Services in Derwood, Md., where she paid $15 for him to be euthanized.
She was told that the shelter’s policy does not allow pet owners to stay in the room with their pets as they are put down, so she said goodbye to Beau and walked out of the office.
About a year after the heartbreaking situation, Pereira, who moved to San Antonio, considered getting another dog and decided to peek at the rescue’s website when she was back visiting family in Maryland.
She was shocked earlier this month when she spotted a dog who looked identical to Beau — just a bit bigger — with the same name he had been given at the shelter when she first fell in love with him in 2022.
Pereira quickly called the Montgomery County shelter and received confirmation that her dog had not been euthanized after veterinarians there deemed him healthy enough to be saved.
The shelter instead returned the puppy to the rescue, which confirmed in a statement that its veterinarians found no neurological issues with the dog. Instead, the veterinarians diagnosed the animal with a liver problem and declared him healthy after a $7,000 surgery.
Pereira claims that it took several days to get anyone from the rescue on the phone to explain what happened and was hurt by the rudeness she was treated with when she finally did speak to someone.
‘Nasty toward me’
“The person that called me was so rude and just disrespectful and just being really nasty towards me,” she said, breaking down in tears. “Just saying, you know, that I abandoned him, and that I left him to die. That I never cared about him.”
She claims she was told that the dog “will never go back” to her before being hung up on.
“LDCRF does not re-home an owner-surrendered dog with its former adopter/owner,” rescue spokesperson Chloe Floyd said. “Our mission is to save adoptable and safe-to-the-community dogs from euthanasia.”
The rescue organization acknowledged that their team members spoke to Pereira as she made the decision to put her dog down but insisted she was warned of the importance of taking the dog to a veterinarian that would allow her to be with the animal when it was euthanized. They claimed they told her the team would take the dog back if she could not do that.
Caroline Hairfield, executive director of Montgomery County Animal Services, told the AP that while “everyone feels for [Pereira],” the organization is contractually bound to return surrendered animals to the rescue.
Pereira says she would have paid the $7,000 for Beau’s surgery had she known that was the better option.
The hound mix was still available for adoption on Tuesday morning. “I have a lot of questions, but first and foremost, I want him back with me,” Pereira told the AP.