A family in Utah was left devastated after a veterinarian mixed up the details and euthanized their dog!
According to KUTV, Andrea Martinez rushed their family dog, Ziggy, to a Davis County animal hospital after he began having breathing problems and difficulty keeping his food down, only to be told he’d need expensive surgery.
While the cost was big and they were scared for the outcome, they spared no expense to save Ziggy.
“He was our baby, it was my daughter’s best friend, my dog’s best friend, it was ours. Money wasn’t an issue,” Martinez said.
The family left Ziggy at the hospital, being informed that they’d get a call after the surgery. However, during a 2:30 am phone call, they were told that Ziggy had passed away.
Martinez said the vet “kept beating around the bush about it” and kept repeating the news like they “should’ve known,” but then put them on hold after realizing something was quite wrong.
Martinez revealed “Then he got back on there and he apologized and said, ‘I’m so sorry that this happened, we got confused and ended up calling another dog’s mom.'”
It turned out another dog, also named Ziggy, had been admitted at the hospital at the same time – also scheduled for surgery. The other dog’s owner had permitted the vet to euthanize their dog.
As Martinez explained, in the middle of Ziggy’s surgery, the vet realized that it was going to be more expensive than he had initially figured and that it would require an extended operation. The vet then called who he thought was Martinez in order to ask if he should continue or let the dog go – being told let him go.
“I just wish we would’ve had the say, I wish we would’ve been able to say we tried everything that we could have,” she said.
She said that while there was nothing that could be done now, the vet had been very apologetic – waving their bill and giving them a nice urn, a plaque, plus a Christmas ornament with Ziggy’s paw print.
But let’s be real, nothing ever replaces a beloved pet.
