Veterinarian puts down wrong dog named Ziggy

SALT LAKE CITY (CNN/KUTV) — When Ziggy started having breathing problems and difficulty keeping food down, Andrea Martinez acted quickly.

“It kind of scared us and so we took him to the vet around 9 p.m.,” Martinez said.

She went to a Davis County animal hospital and learned it needed a pricey surgery. “He was our baby. It was daughter’s best friend, my dog’s best friend. It was ours. … Money wasn’t an issue.”

She left Ziggy and say they were told they’d get a call after surgery later that night. It came at 2:30 a.m. Ziggy didn’t make it.

“He kept beating around the bush about it, but he was saying it like I should’ve known,” Martinez said.

Groggy and confused, she was put on hold.

“Then he got back on there and he apologized and said, ‘I’m so sorry that this happened. We got confused and ended up calling another dog’s mom.’”

Another dog named Ziggy.

As Martinez understands it, the veterinary hospital got permission to put her dog down from the other Ziggy’s owner.

She said, “They were still in the middle of surgery when they called the other person asking, ‘It’s going to be more expensive. It’s going to be a more extended surgery. Do you want to continue it or do you want to let him go?’ They chose to let him go.”

Ziggy was in bad shape, and it’s hard to say what his life would’ve been like if the veterinarian had been given approval to keep trying.

“I just wish we would’ve had the say. I wish we would’ve been able to say we tried everything that we could have,” Martinez said.

The veterinarian has been very apologetic, Martinez said, and waived their bill and gave her a nice urn, a plaque and a Christmas ornament with Ziggy’s paw print. She said there is no making it right, but this is what we can do to show that they are sorry.

KUTV made several unsuccessful attempts to speak with the veterinarian. For that reason, the name of the veterinary hospital was withheld from the story.