Woman, family devastated, says vet euthanized the wrong dog
SUNSET, UT (KUTV) — When Ziggy started having breathing problems and difficulty keeping food down, Andrea Martinez acted quickly.
“It kind of scared us and so we took him to the vet around 9 p.m.,” said Martinez.
They went to a Davis County animal hospital in Utah and learned he’d need surgery. A bit pricey but Ziggy is part of the family, she says.
“He was our baby, it was my daughter’s best friend, my dog’s best friend, it was ours. Money wasn’t an issue.”
They left Ziggy and say they were told they’d get a call after surgery later that night. It came at 2:30 in the morning, Ziggy didn’t make it.
“He kept beating around the bush about it, but he was saying it like I should’ve known,” said Martinez.
Groggy and confused, Andrea says she was put on hold.
“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.’”
Another dog named Ziggy.
As Andrea understands it now, they got permission to put her dog down, from the other Ziggy’s owner.
“They were still in the middle of surgery when they called the other person asking, ‘it’s going to be more expensive, it’s going to be a more extended surgery, do you want to continue it or do you want to let him go?’ They chose to let him go.”
Ziggy was in bad shape and it’s hard to say what his life would’ve been like if the vet had been given approval to keep trying, but...
“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,” said Martinez.
The vet has been very apologetic, she says, waiving their bill, and giving them a nice urn, a plaque and a Christmas ornament with Ziggy’s paw print.
“She said there is no making it right, but this is what we can do to show that they are sorry.”
2News made multiple attempts to speak with the veterinarian that were unsuccessful.
“Because we've not yet received the other side of the story, we are withholding the name of the business."
