The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Animal Cremation The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Animal Cremation
Showing posts with label Animal Cremation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animal Cremation. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

A Vet Technician Has Been Charged with Animal Cruelty for Keeping a Dog After Owner Was Told it Was Euthanized


A vet technician has been charged with animal cruelty for keeping a dog after owner was told it was euthanized.

Andrea Oliveira, from Freehold, New Jersey, is accused of taking an elderly dog from vet Dr George Menez and keeping it alive for five months.

Dr Menez, who hasn’t been charged with a criminal offence, is alleged to have told owner Keri Levy that he euthanised her miniature pinscher Caesar at Briarwood Veterinary Hospital in May.

It was reported that the vets believed the dog could be nursed back to health.

Ms Levy said her 15-year-old dog was suffering from Cushing’s disease, a condition which affects elderly dogs.

She claims Dr Menez telephoned her to say Caesar was ‘at peace’, hours after she said goodbye to her pet.

However, she received an anonymous message earlier this month from someone who said her dog was still alive and being looked after by an employee at the vet practice.

Police said Oliveira did not believe the dog needed to be put down and thought she could nurse it back to health.

Caesar has since been put down under the supervision of a different vet.

The health of the animal before its death is now a matter of dispute.

Police said the dog was given back to its owner in good spirits and showed no signs of ill-health, but Ms Levy said his condition had deteriorated.

Police said Dr Menez allowed Oliveira to take the dog home with her but didn’t inform the owner.

‘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,’ Howell Police Detective Sergeant Christian Antunez told the Mail Online.

After receiving the anonymous message that Caesar was still alive, Ms Levy contacted the practice but both Dr Menez and Oliveira had stopped working there.

Ms Levy claims she then contacted Dr Menez and he gave her the name of the former colleague who had taken her dog.

His owner said the dog’s health had deteriorated dramatically in the five months and she took him to be put down at a different hospital.

You can read the initial story here: Family Dog Was Supposed to Cremated: Found Alive At Veterinary Worker’s Home

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Friday, October 20, 2017

Family Dog Was Supposed to Cremated: Found Alive At Veterinary Worker’s Home


Howell Township, NJ - A New Jersey family was told their dog had been put down five months ago, but little did they know the pet had been living with a veterinary worker all that time.

Caesar's family grieved for their pet when they believed the chronically ill dog they had for 15 years was put down at Briarwood Veterinary Hospital in Howell, Monmouth County.

That was until they received a tip call last week saying the dog was actually still alive.

"I'm dumbfounded. I don't even know how to say, I don't know how to feel," said Caesar's owner, Lonnie Levy.

He paid $192 for the dog's cremation and even got a condolence letter from Dr. George Menez, the family's longtime vet.

But instead of euthanizing Caesar, Menez allegedly let a vet tech in the office take the dog home without the Levy's knowledge or permission.

"You charge me to put him down and then sneak him out the back door? It's horrifying," Levy said.

When police got involved the vet tech was ordered to return Caesar, who by then was so ill he had to be euthanized immediately.

"To this date, we have not confirmed that there was any type of veterinary care being rendered to this dog," said Chief Ross Licitra of the Monmouth County SPCA.

"There's potential of theft charges against the doctor for basically taking the victim's money and not performing the service," said Chief Andrew Kudrick of the Howell Twp. Police Department.

Action News was unable to contact Dr. Menez for comment. He and the vet tech involved no longer work at Briarwood.

The veterinarian who bought the practice just last week and helped the Levys figure out what happened is upset.

"It's hard enough when you have to decide a pet should pass, but you have to deal with that twice with the same pet? It's just unthinkable," said Dr. Maureen Kibisz.

Local police and the SPCA will meet with the Monmouth County prosecutor's office on Thursday to discuss if any charges will be filed.





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