Featured Image Credit: Kristie Pereira
Topics: Dogs, Animal Cruelty, Animals
Mia Williams
A woman who discovered her puppy was alive after putting him down claims she was told she ‘never cared’ about her dog.
Kristie Pereira, 32, adopted a dog that she named Beau in 2022 from a local group in Maryland called Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation.
She adopted the two-month-old puppy after working from home for a considerable period.
Within weeks, however, Kristie said she could tell something wasn’t right with her beloved dog.
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She took him to the shelter she adopted him from, where a vet told her that he may have a liver problem.
Pereira, who now lives in San Antonio, Texas, was faced with costs of up to $12,000 to run tests and claims that she was told 'there's a very slim chance of finding what is wrong' and 'an even smaller chance' of it being something that could be fixed.
The health condition worsened after being sent home, and she agreed after speaking with three vets that it would be the kindest solution to put Beau down.
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Speaking to Associated Press, she said: “Honestly I mean, after I talked to them I felt, you know, that I was going to be doing the right thing by putting him down.
“They really gave me that support and that encouragement that, although it’s hard, sometimes that’s the best thing to do.”
After going through with the process - the shelter’s policy not allowing her to be in the room when it happened - Kristie saw the most bizarre website post.
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Her exact dog, Beau, was being advertised on the shelter’s website.
It also had the same name that her dog had before she changed it once he was adopted - Amos Hart.
After attempting to contact them several times, the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation refused to give Beau back.
She claims she was told on the phone that ‘the dog would never go back to you’.
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Heartbroken and confused, she described the foundation's alleged attitude as ‘nasty’ and ‘rude’.
She said: “The person that called me was so rude and just disrespectful and just being really nasty towards me.
"Just saying that I abandoned him, and that I left him to die. That I never cared about him.
“I want him back with me."
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In a statement to AP, rescue spokesperson Chloe Floyd defended their decision: "LDCRF does not re-home an owner-surrendered dog with its former owner.
"Our mission is to save adoptable and safe-to-the-community dogs from euthanasia."
They claimed they had spoken with Krisite during the process, despite her saying she had no contact whatsoever.
Montgomery County Animal Services executive director Caroline Hairfield also said that they are bound by contract to send surrendered animals back to rescues, so they cannot do much.
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Caroline added that everyone there ‘feels for her’.
UNILAD previously contacted Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation and Montgomery County Animal Services for further comment.