Woman who paid to have a sick dog put down is shocked to find a now healthy puppy for adoption – and she doesn’t get him back

A woman was shocked to discover the sick dog she took to be euthanized was back at the shelter and ready for adoption a year later.

Kristie Pereira, 32, was left heartbroken when she was told 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 puppy from the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation in 2022 while working from home in Maryland.

Beau was almost constantly at Pereira’s side, wagging his tail, but she quickly realized something was wrong.

The puppy was unable to control his bowels and lift his back legs.

Blood tests showed that Beau had a liver problem, but medication did not lead to any improvement.

The dog’s veterinarian, the clinic’s lead doctor and a veterinarian at the veterinary emergency room all ultimately agreed that the puppy’s symptoms indicated a serious neurological problem, Pereira said.

She said she was told additional tests would cost up to $12,000 — which she was willing to pay — but would offer only “a very small chance of finding out what’s wrong and “an even lower chance that it’s something that (doctors could) fix,” according to the Associated Press.

Running out of viable options, Pereira said he was told euthanizing the puppy would be the best solution.

Pereira held out for another month, hoping that Beau’s symptoms would subside, but ultimately decided to follow the veterinarians’ advice and put him down after several consultations with rescue staff.

“Honestly, I mean, after I talked to them, that’s really when I felt, you know, I was going to do the right thing by putting him down,” Pereira said. “They really gave me that support and encouragement that, even though it’s hard, sometimes it’s the best thing to do.”

In late March 2023, Pereira said she took Beau to Montgomery County Animal Services in Derwood, Maryland, where she paid $15 to have him euthanized. She was told that shelter policy does not allow pet owners to stay in the room with their pets while they are being dropped off, so she said goodbye to Beau and left the office.

About a year after that heartbreaking situation, Pereira, who has since moved to San Antonio, considered getting another dog and decided to take a look at the rescue’s website while she was back home visiting to his family in Maryland.

She was shocked earlier this month when she spotted a dog who looked like Beau – just a little bigger – with the same name given to him at the shelter when she first fell in love with him times in 2022.

Pereira quickly called the Montgomery County shelter and received confirmation that her dog had not been euthanized after veterinarians 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 problems in the dog.

Instead, veterinarians diagnosed the animal with a liver problem and declared him healthy after a $7,000 surgery.

Pereira says it took several days for someone from emergency services to get on the phone to explain what had happened and that she was hurt by the rudeness with which she was treated when she finally spoke to someone.

“The person who called me was very rude, disrespectful and really mean to me,” she said, breaking down in tears. “I’m just saying, you know, I gave up on him and let him die. That I never cared about him.

She claims she was told the dog would “never come back” to her before she was hooked.

“LDCRF does not return a dog abandoned by its owner to its previous adopter/owner,” rescue spokesperson Chloe Floyd said in a statement. “Our mission is to save dogs that are adoptable and safe for the community from euthanasia. »

The rescue organization acknowledged that its team members had spoken to Pereira as she made the difficult decision to put her dog down, but insisted she had been warned about the importance of taking the dog to a veterinarian who would allow him to be with the animal when he is. was euthanized.

They said they told her the team would take the dog back if she couldn’t do it.

Caroline Hairfield, executive director of Montgomery County Animal Services, told the AP that while “everyone feels for (Pereira),” the organization is contractually obligated to return abandoned animals to the rescue.

Pereira constantly defends that she was encouraged to euthanize her puppy, but that she would have paid the $7,000 for Beau’s surgery if she had known it was the best option.

The dog mix was still available for adoption Tuesday morning.

“I have a lot of questions, but first and foremost I want him back with me,” Pereira told the AP.