It was 9 p.m. when Andrea Martinez brought her beloved Ziggy to the vet. Ziggy was having trouble breathing and keeping food down.
Little did she know that a few hours later she would receive a heartbreaking call from the vet.
“He was our baby, it was my daughter’s best friend, my dog’s best friend, it was ours. Money wasn’t an issue.”
Martinez brought Ziggy to a Davis County animal hospital in Utah and learned that the family’s dog would need expensive surgery.
But Martinez didn’t care how much it cost, she just wanted Ziggy better. So, she left the dog at the hospital and was told she’d receive a call once the surgery was over.
At 2:30 a.m. the phone rang.
“He kept beating around the bush about it, but he was saying it like I should’ve known,” she told Local 12.
After being put on hold, Martinez learned the reason for the confusing middle of the night phone call. The animal hospital accidentally euthanized Ziggy.
“‘I’m so sorry that this happened, we got confused and ended up calling another dog’s mom.'”
Reportedly, while in the middle of Ziggy’s surgery, they discovered it was going to be more expensive so they called the dog’s owner. Only they called the wrong pet parents. There was another dog named Ziggy at the animal hospital and they accidentally called them.
It’s unclear what Ziggy’s condition would have been had they continued with the more expensive surgery, but Martinez said she would have at least liked to have been offered the choice.
“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,” she said.
After the incident, the vet was extremely apologetic. The animal hospital waived the vet bill, gave the family an urn, plaque, and a Christmas ornament with Ziggy’s pawprint.
While the animal hospital’s gesture was kind, there’s no bringing Ziggy back.
How did something like this happen? I can’t even imagine the devastation the Martinez family must feel right now.
Share this if you would like to see steps made to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
