MEAT COVE, N.S. — Arlene Fougere's beloved family dog had the wind in its fur as it was driven to a walk-in veterinarian clinic for treatment of a sore paw on Tuesday. The lifeless body of the husky was held in her hands on the drive home later that day after it was mistakenly euthanized.
The Meat Cove resident said it was an emotional, hysterical, painful drive home after the incident.
“I took Cooper there so the veterinarian could look at his paw, not kill him,” she said, crying uncontrollably during an interview with the Cape Breton Post.
The incident took place at a Highland Animal Hospital walk-in clinic that is periodically held in Ingonish.
Fougere had first spoken to the animal hospital last year after noticing the dog had a sore paw and emailed a photo.
“I described to them what the dog was doing and the doctor said it sounded more like stress.”
The paw seemed to heal but recently his hind leg appeared sore.
“I was washing it down with saltwater and putting Polysporin on it every day and it would heal and then be sore again, so I decided to take him to the vet to find out why this was happening.”
Personally knowing the Highland Animal Hospital’s veterinary assistant, she spoke to her about Cooper’s leg and was told she could bring him to the clinic in Ingonish.
“He enjoyed the drive, sat there with his face looking out the window of the truck, the wind blowing his hair,” Fougere said.
After they arrived, they waited outside due to the pandemic precautions and knocked to notify them they were there. The veterinary assistant she had talked to about Cooper’s leg gave her a form to fill out with the dog’s basic information.
While waiting, Fougere took Cooper for a stroll and gave him water.
The veterinarian then came outside and told Fougere to put Cooper on the back of their truck.
“He said he was going to give him a needle to relax him because he had been bitten before and didn’t want to take a chance of that happening again.”
The veterinarian gave Cooper the shot and then said he’d be back out in 15 minutes.
“Cooper laid down on me and started snoring, moving his paws around like he was dreaming,” she said.
Then the veterinarian came back out and asked her to hold her dog’s head. The veterinarian was holding a rubber band, so Fougere assumed he was going to draw blood for testing.
“I don’t like needles, so I looked away,” she said. “Then I felt my dog jerking his head. All of a sudden he got stiff and I looked at his face and noticed blood on his lip. A gurgling noise came out and that was it. He wasn’t breathing.”
Fougere began screaming.
“I yelled, “What did you do? What’s wrong with my dog?'”
The vet said, “I’m sorry, I thought you wanted me to put him down.”
Fougere was hysterical.
“I said, ‘No, he only has a sore paw! You killed my dog!'”
The veterinarian told her there were three dogs there to be put down, and he had made a mistake.
“He didn’t even look at the chart or ask me if this was the dog to be put down,” Fougere said. “He just came over carrying a rubber band, never said a word, and now my dog is dead.”
The vet told her if she wanted Cooper cremated, they’d cover the cost.
“I told him, ‘No, don’t touch my dog anymore!'"
The veterinary assistant –— whom she had had several conversations with regarding Cooper’s sore leg — had watched it happen.
“She knew we had Cooper there for a sore leg and not to be euthanized and she just stood there and didn’t say anything,” Fougere said, crying. “She let him do it.”
A woman in the parking lot came over and asked Fougere if she wanted her to call the RCMP, and officers responded.
“The vet was honest and told the RCMP he made a mistake, but that’s not going to bring my dog back.”
The officer advised Fougere to contact the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association, which she is in the process of doing, and she is waiting for the officer’s report. Fougere said they’ve also contacted a lawyer.
Painful drive home
Fougere, who has six daughters, including three living at home, said it was a painful, emotional, hard drive home to tell them their dog was gone.
Cooper came to the family as a puppy on Feb. 10, 2012, a gift for daughter Melanie, who wanted a husky as a reward for making the school honour list twice.
“Walks was what he loved most,” Fougere said. “Going for walks in the woods, up the road or along the river.”
They buried Cooper in a special area of the yard where the family’s past dogs that had died of old age were buried, a spot decorated with beach rocks, flowers, crosses and solar lights.
Meanwhile, Fougere said the pain is unbearable.
“I wish I could take Tuesday back,” she added, sobbing.
According to its website, Highland Animal Hospital has offices in Port Hawkesbury, Guysborough, Inverness, Chéticamp and Ingonish. When contacted and asked for the owner’s name, the Cape Breton Post was told, “We don’t give out that information.” The Post asked to speak with the owner, but the call wasn’t returned by deadline.
Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association
Dr. Frank Richardson, registrar of the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association, said he was not aware of the incident and had not received any information regarding Fougere’s husky as of Thursday morning.
Richardson said if the owner of the dog feels something inappropriate was done, she has the privilege of notifying him in the form of a letter.
“Then an investigation will certainly be done regarding the circumstances of the incident,” he said.
Once a complaint is received from a member of the public, Richardson said the association's legislation stipulates how the process works.
The complaint goes to a committee for review, and the committee will contact the necessary people, compile information and adjudicate the complaint.
“It’s taken very seriously,” he said. “Complaints are dealt with through our regulatory mechanism for sure.”
In general, Richardson said it’s "very, very infrequently" that he hears of a mix-up resulting in a dog being euthanized by mistake.
“It’s not a common occurrence by any means, it would be a very rare — if at all — experience.”
Unable to sleep since and filled with pain, Fougere said she’s speaking up about it in hopes of saving someone else from enduring this tragedy.
“I'm not doing this for myself, I am fighting for our beautiful dog that was senselessly euthanized for reasons beyond what I can't grasp,” she said. “I'm doing this for other people’s pets so they will never ever experience the pain, torture and heartbreak we are enduring. I took my perfectly healthy eight-year-old dog to the vet and went home with a dead dog.”
Cpl. Lisa Croteau, Nova Scotia RCMP spokeswoman, said Ingonish RCMP responded to a call of a disturbance at a business on Cabot Trail on Tuesday at about 1:30 p.m. She said no charges have been laid.