Sunday, October 17, 2010

Botched euthanasia leaves dog owner in quandary

In the category of I've never heard of this happening before, After bringing dog's body home from vet procedure, owner finds her standing up.
From the Associated Press -
REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A suburban Detroit man whose Rottweiler was given a new leash on life after surviving a botched euthanasia said he has neither the heart nor the money to try the procedure again.

Redford Township resident Matt Olivarez, 27, said he's in a tough spot: facing possible home foreclosure while at the same time trying to do right by Mia, an 11-year-old pooch that he feeds by hand, partly because of her spinal problem that makes walking difficult.

Olivarez said he took Mia to the Westcott Veterinary Care Center in Detroit on Saturday to alleviate her suffering. He said Westcott officials speculated afterward that the drug dosage wasn't strong enough or had been watered down.

He now shudders at the thought of almost burying his beloved pet alive.

"I don't know if I could do it a second time," Olivarez told The Detroit News for a story published Wednesday.

Olivarez said he returned to his garage Sunday morning and noticed Mia missing from where he'd placed her on a pile of hay the day before. He'd planned to bury her in his grandfather's backyard.

Instead, he turned to find her standing on all fours, staring at him.

"Are you still my dog?" he said, saying he felt like he was living a scene from one of the scary movies he enjoys. "It was like a scene from 'Pet Sematary.'"

Olivarez purchased Mia, the only member of her litter to survive, around the time his first child was born. She was intended to be a companion for his sons, now 8 and 9. Olivarez tried to explain Mia's resurrection to them Tuesday night.
"It's crazy," he said. "It's not something I planned for."

Meanwhile, Olivarez is seeking a new owner who can give Mia proper care.

"I'll keep her until I figure something out," he said

1 comment:

parlance said...

This was a terrible story. I read a great post on it by the vet at PetMed, and she said, basically, there should have been these tests for actual death:
1) Absence of a pulse (by manual palpation).
2) Absence of a heartbeat (via stethoscope).
3) The absence of respiratory movements.
4) A change in coloration of the gums from pink to grayish.
5) The onset or rigor mortis ( I personally don't like to place a pet into the freezer until the onset of this unmistakable sign of death).

I think the onset of rigor mortis is the safest one. Whenever I see a wild creature die, I keep it somewhere until I can check for rigor mortis.