Animal shelter refusing to give woman's dog back reveals mistake she made when deciding to have him put down

A woman who had her dog put down ended up being rather shocked when she discovered him still alive and in the care of an animal shelter.

32-year-old Kristie Pereira said she was told by three separate vets that there was nothing more she could do to help her dog, Beau.

She'd adopted him from the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation (LDCRF) in Maryland, USA in 2022, but he was sadly soon diagnosed with a liver problem which she was later informed was likely neurological in origin.

Pereira was told that further tests would cost her $12,000 (£9,400) and would probably not work out what was wrong.

Talking to the animal shelter about Beau's health problems, she said they supported her decision to go for euthanasia, with the poor pooch being put down in March 2023.

Kristie Pereira had her dog put down after multiple vets said there was nothing more she could do. (Fox 5)

Or so Kristie thought, as a year later she was looking through the animal shelter's site and saw a dog that looked identical to Beau, but was called Amos Hart.

It turned out to be the exact same dog, and the shelter confirmed that he hadn't actually been put down after vets decided on the day that he could be saved.

The dog had received $7,000 worth of surgery, paid for by a GoFundMe campaign, and been declared healthy afterwards.

Kristie said she'd be happy to pay that cost if she could re-adopt her dog, but the animal shelter has refused to allow her to do so.

The shelter said in a lengthy statement, which you can read in full here, that they don't 'rehome pets with previous owners who surrendered them for euthanasia'.

The animal shelter took the dog back, and said they wouldn't let Kristie re-adopt him. (Fox 5)

They went on to explain how the dog came to be returned to their care, and how Kristie's actions made it possible.

They said: "In March 2023, the former adopter reported to us that two vets said Amos had a neurological condition that would impact his quality of life and she was considering humane euthanasia.

"If that came to be, we advised her to be with Amos through his euthanasia.

"We shared with her how important we believe it is to be with your pet for their peaceful passage and IF she understandably could not be, then the rescue would take Amos back.

"We did not hear any more from her about Amos."

The animal shelter explained that the following month they'd been contacted by Montgomery County Animal Shelter to say the dog had been handed over to them for euthanasia, and days later the LDCRF picked the dog up.

The dog was put up for adoption on 4 May.