Vet employee 'took dog home' after family paid to have it put down
Two families have accused an animal hospital of lying to them about their animals being put down.
Rebecca Belote has claimed that when she took her four-year-old pug Cha Cha to the Senoia Animal Hospital Coweta County she was advised that Cha Cha's poor health meant that the only option left was for Cha Cha to be put to sleep.
Belote says that the devastated family agreed to this due to Cha Cha being diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis and being in organ failure.
The news was difficult for her husband and 17-year-old son to deal with, with Ms Belote telling Channel 2: "They both took it kind of hard. My son was really attached to the dog."
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She added: "They had matching clothes. Like matching hoodies that they would wear. She hardly walked anywhere cause he carried her everywhere."
When Cha Cha became sick, they took her to the vets, where Belote claims they were given the news that tragically, there was nothing that the vets could do to help the dog.
The family had believed that Cha Cha had died, until months later when Belote was scrolling through Facebook, and claims that she saw a picture of a dog that she knew was Cha Cha.
"I knew scrolling like that's my dog," she said, before discovering that the person who appeared to have Cha Cha is an employee at the vets where they had taken the dog.
Belote claims that the partner of the employee has confirmed to her that they have Cha Cha, but she says Senoia Animal Hospital Coweta County denies that its employee took Cha Cha after Belote and her family believed that the dog had been put down.
"They have a lawyer," said Ms Belote, "they won't talk about it."
She also claims that despite being told there was nothing to be done for Cha Cha, the employee's partner said that the dog was doing better.
Belote claims that the hospital has since put down Cha Cha, and is concerned that this happened despite the claims that Cha Cha's condition had improved.
"The fact that they put a healthy dog down. That's just sick," she said.
Belote has said that she filed a complaint with the Georgia State Board of Veterinary Medicine over the alleged incident involving Cha Cha.
A similar alleged incident has also been reported at the same hospital involving a cat called Annie.
Annie's family believed she had been euthanised, but they claim they discovered 18 months later that a veterinary worker had taken her home.
At the family's request, Annie was euthanised in August.
Fox News reports that police and prosecutors in Senoia have declined to file charges over the incident.
Captain Jason Ercole said: "We feel that there are obviously some ethical concerns regarding the conduct at the Senoia Animal Hospital, but we don't believe that it rises to the level of criminal conduct.
"Ethically, we feel that there is other authorities that could better address these issues, like the State Board of Veterinary Services."
An attorney representing Senoia Animal Hospital has also shared a statement with Fox News, which said: "With the developing issues at this time, we have advised (them) not to make any statements regarding these issues - the Hospital has decided to follow our advice.
"Senoia Animal Hospital looks forward to providing excellent care to its clients and the community."
LADbible has contacted Senoia Animal Hospital for a comment.
Kit Roberts