-
After being told their elderly dog was put down, a family in New Jersey is shocked to find their dog was still alive after being abducted by their veterinarian.
It’s any dog owner’s worst nightmare… wrapped inside a second nightmare.
In May, Keri Levy of Freehold Township, New Jersey, brought the family dog, Ceasar, to Briarwood Veterinary Hospital. Ceasar is 15 years old and suffers from Cushing’s disease.
Cushing’s disease is a chronic health condition for canines and it is one of the most common endocrine disorders in older dogs. Cushing’s disease often leads to the process of euthanizing.
Keri explains that after leaving Caesar with the veterinarian’s office, the family received a phone call saying Caesar had been put down. “She picked up the collar and actually paid her bill and received a letter from the veterinary offices stating their condolences on the loss of her pet,” said Ross Licitra, chief of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
After a few months of mourning the loss of their beloved miniature pinscher, an anonymous tipster told the family that Caesar was stolen! Keri, working together with the local chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, tracked Caesar down.
Briarwood Veterinary explained that Dr. George Menez, the vet who was supposedly caring for Caesar, no longer worked at the animal hospital.
In a now deleted Facebook post, Keri details how the vets office called the cremation company Dr. Menez used and they had no records of Ceasar at all. Levy confronted the vet. Dr. George Menez used to own the Briarwood Veterinary Hospital but has since sold the practice.
Menez admitted he gave Caesar away another former employee of the veterinary office.
According to police, the vet meant no ill will — they had just grown attached to Caesar. “This employee wanted to do so out of compassion for the dog and a desire to rehabilitate his health, albeit without the owner’s consent,” police said in a statement.
Even in the care of a vet tech, Caesar’s health deteriorated rapidly.
Levy writes in her Facebook post, “Our dog is worse than he was. No treatment for him, no medical care at all. He has lost 10lbs… his bones are deteriorated and his body is absorbing the muscle tissue. He smells from a skin condition. He is blind in one eye and almost the other has a large growth on it. He has several masses on his body… he suffered prior from Cushing-he hasn’t had any meds and most likely had/has some form of cancer. What gave these people the right to do this!”
The reunion was very brief. Levy spent about an hour with Caesar before he was properly euthanized.
Ceasar is dead… Long live Caesar…
As for Dr. Menez, he is currently out of a job.
A worker who answered the phone at Briarwood told the website that he had been “let go” over the weekend, but wouldn’t say why. It’s unclear if Levy plans to file a lawsuit against him.
So this story is sad. What do you think of it though? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.
