Vet Loses Dog, Dog is Hit by Car: MyFoxPHOENIX.com
PHOENIX – A Phoenix couple is heartbroken after their veterinarian loses their dog. The Maltese had just gotten a routine teeth cleaning when it got away from staff and was hit by a car.
This couple says the dog was like family — their child. Rachelle and Ian dropped it off to get its teeth cleaned, and when they came to pick the dog up and the dog was missing.
They later found the dog on I-17, dead. It had been run over by a car.
“I’m just so angry and I feel terrible, I miss my baby, she was my baby,” says Rachelle Vanderwyst.
Rachelle’s dog Hannah was killed Thursday night on I-17. The dog was lost by staff at an animal hospital at Anthem.
“I feel terrible she’s my best friend really she’s my best friend,” says Ian.
The Vanderwysts says they never got a call to tell them Hannah was missing. When they came to pick her up, this is what they say staff told them: “Well we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is her teeth cleaning went great, the bad news is that Hannah is lost. We lost her.”
The clinic owner says after the teeth cleaning, staff took Hannah out to relieve herself. They claim she was double leashed with a neck leash and harness and still got away. The Vanderwysts searched for two hours in the rain. They say they didn’t see the staff searching at all, and didn’t get one call from staff during their search. After two hours, they found Hannah’s body.
“She was all just ripped to shreds on the highway, she was ripped to shreds she was all wet and freezing,” says Rachelle.
“We feel terrible about their loss, terrible. The dog was double leashed and the dog still got away. We are in the business of caring for animals not harming them. All we can do is learn from what happened to make sure this will never happen again,” says Dr. Chris Snodgross, the clinic owner.
“It’s like a family member, it’s not a pet. It’s not just a dog it’s a family member, anybody who doesn’t see that doesn’t understand how much she meant to us,” says Ian.
The clinic says they did help search for Hannah, and they have agreed to pay for the dog’s cremation.
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/pets/vet-loses-dog-then-dog-is-hit-by-car-12-2-2011
