A Texas woman was stunned to discover that the dog she had scheduled to be euthanized a year ago turned up alive at an adoption site.
Kristie Periera, 32, said she is desperate to get her pet Beau back and says she has no idea why the rescue center where she left the dog now has him for sale.
After paying $450 for the bloodhound mix in 2022, he says he instantly fell in love with the pet, but after several weeks he realized something was wrong with the dog.
Veterinarians told her Beau probably had neurological problems, and after resisting for several weeks, she finally succumbed to their advice that it would be more humane to put him down.
Kristie Periera, 32, was stunned to discover that her puppy Beau, whom she had scheduled to euthanize a year ago, turned up alive at an adoption site.
Periera said she was warned that trying to care for the puppy could cost more than $12,000, and even then veterinarians would likely have difficulty rehabilitating it.
She says she was told that “there’s a very slim chance of finding what’s wrong,” and “even if we do, there’s an even slimmer chance that it’s something we can fix.”
As the dog’s condition deteriorated, veterinarians and an animal emergency room told him that his symptoms (inability to lift his hind legs or control his bowels) meant Beau likely had a neurological problem.
Periera insisted that she was not in favor of euthanizing the puppy, but was eventually convinced by staff at the shelter, Lost Dog and Cat Rescue in Maryland, where she worked at the time before moving to Texas.
“Honestly, I mean, after talking to them was when I really felt, you know, that I was going to do the right thing by putting him down,” Pereira said.
“They really gave me that support and encouragement that, although it’s hard, sometimes it’s the best thing you can do.”
Veterinarians initially believed Beau was suffering from a neurological condition, but it was later discovered he had a liver problem.
She paid $15 to have the dog euthanized at the end of March 2023, and was told she couldn’t be with her puppy since the shelter had a policy of not allowing owners to witness their pets being euthanized.
Periera left heartbroken and believed Beau was dead for a year until she returned to Maryland from Texas to visit her mother, when she visited the rescue shelter’s website out of curiosity.
She said she was stunned to see a photo of Beau, with the same markings that identified him, but with a new name, Amos Hart, in honor of a character from the musical ‘Chicago.’
The shelter later admitted that the puppy was never euthanized because the veterinarians changed their minds and decided it wasn’t necessary.
The rescue added to the outlet that additional testing found Beau was actually suffering from a liver problem and was rehabilitated following a $7,000 surgery paid for by a GoFundMe campaign.
Periera said she was left in the dark and had no idea about the surgery, and said she would be willing to pay the $7,000 cost of the surgery to get her pet back.
And when she called the shelter, she said the person on the other end of the line was “rude and disrespectful” to her, and accused her of “abandoning him and letting him die.” That I never cared about her.
In a statement, the shelter defended the decision to keep the dog, saying it “does not rehome a dog surrendered by its owner to its former adopter.”
Beau was told he will “never come back to you” before being hung up on.
In a statement, the shelter defended the decision to keep the dog, saying it “does not rehome an owner-surrendered dog with its former adopter/owner.”
“Our mission is to save adoptable and safe dogs for the community from euthanasia.”
The shelter said it had offered advice to Periera but condemned her for not consenting to further testing to investigate suspected neurological problems.