Dog Found Alive Six Months After Being “Euthanized”

A veterinary clinic in Fort Worth was raided this week when a family discovered their dog they thought was euthanized 6 months ago was being kept alive in a cage.

Update: The vet has been charged and admitted to keeping five dogs alive after supposed euthanizations. Read the full story here.

Marian Harris was tipped off by a former employee that her 4-year old family pet – which she believed was put down due to health reasons – was imprisoned at the vet’s office.

Harris gave Dr. Lou Tierce, a licensed vet since 1966, permission to euthanize her dog Sid back in October. The family took the dog to the Camp Bowie Animal Clinic and said their goodbyes, “and that was the end of it,” Harris said.

The family was shocked by a phone call last week from an ex-employee who told them that Sid was still alive, locked away in a cage. Harris and her husband entered the clinic and found Sid in a cage in a back room.

“The betrayal is so incredibly intense that nothing you have prepares you for the emotions. There’s anger, there’s joy that you have your dog back, there’s betrayal of this intense trust. And so it’s just really hard to camp on one particular emotion,” Harris told CBS DFW.

The owner took Sid to another vet, who told the family he did not need to be euthanized. Harris noted that the dog was able to jump into her minivan after they were reunited.

Watch the report from CBS DFW

Animal control agents removed two other dogs from the clinic, and investigators told the media they found “important evidence.”

The former employee, who has been described as “disgruntled” told CBS that Sid “was put in a cage, wasn’t properly treated,wasn’t getting any treatment.”

Harris told reporters that she believed Sid was kept alive as a blood donor for other dogs. Her attorney told CBS that the state board investigating the clinic had findings that were “consistent with that family’s story of abuse.”

The vet has not yet commented on the story.