A distraught family will never be able to bring their beloved dog's ashes home after their pet was accidentally cremated in a 'communal' group against their wishes. Buddy Evans was a 12-year-old Jack Russell Terrier and had to be put to sleep on Sunday, February 5 after being diagnosed with tracheal collapse after several years of illness.
Buddy's owner Ashlee Nadine Evans, 28, from Glynneath, said the experience of having Buddy put to sleep at Swansea PDSA Petaid Hospital would "never leave our minds," and claimed: "They couldn’t get the needle into his leg for sedation, they literally stabbed him with a needle. The squeal he made will never leave my head. They tried three or four times to find a vein, there was blood everywhere."
Ashlee said Buddy went to sleep "peacefully." The next day, she paid for a private cremation and had it confirmed that Buddy would be picked up on Wednesday, February 8 by CPC, a pet cremation company. Buddy's ashes were due to be brought back to his family, which includes Ashlee, her partner Paul Demery and her nine-year-old son Kenzie, as well as another dog, Buddy's 'little sister' Sky, a 13-week-old American XL Bully.
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Ashlee said she phoned the pet hospital on Tuesday to double-check the plans, but on Wednesday she had a phone call saying that there had been a mix-up and Buddy had been collected on Monday and had been part of a 'communal cremation' with other dogs. She said: "So we're not getting him back. We paid for a private cremation and were told he was getting collected from the PDSA this morning by the CPC and we’d get a box with the ashes."
She added: "The family are heartbroken. Non-stop crying. We’re not sleeping, my son’s in school crying. We were going to keep him on the shelf with all his toys. We find ourselves to be left with an open wound emotionally as a family, a hole that will never be filled."
Ashlee said she was offered a refund by CPC, the cremation service, and a tree and a plaque with Buddy's name on by the pet hospital. She added: "You can imagine what I said. I don’t want a bloody tree, I want a dog."
A spokesperson for Vets Now, the out-of-hours vets that took on Buddy's case when he went to the hospital, said: "Our dedicated team aim to provide a professional and caring service at all times, and the most important thing to us is the welfare of pets in our care. An error concerning a pet’s ashes was discovered by our team at our clinic this week.
"Saying goodbye to a pet is always a sad and difficult time and we have expressed our sincerest sympathies to Buddy’s family over their loss. We are very sorry about what happened, and we understand the distress that this unfortunate situation will have caused to our client.
"As soon as we realised the error, we immediately informed our client and launched a thorough investigation to establish what happened, which was carried out promptly. We kept our client informed as to the full outcomes and we have taken steps to prevent something like this from happening again."
Addressing Ashlee's claims that the process of Buddy being put to sleep was upsetting, the spokesperson said: "We take any claims of substandard delivery of care to animals or their owners extremely seriously. All incidents are investigated thoroughly and any appropriate action necessary is taken."
Cremation service CPC confirmed that Ashlee had been offered a refund but did not wish to comment. A PDSA spokesperson said: "We are aware of an issue that occurred during the out of hours service provided by Vets Now at our Swansea Pet Hospital. Vets Now have confirmed they have launched a full investigation to establish what happened. The loss of a pet is always a very sad and difficult time, we send our sympathies to Buddy’s family."
Ashlee described Buddy as a "very happy dog" whose "tail was always wagging." She added: "He had a stubborn side also, which was quite funny, a very very proud dog. He had his own little character, best dog we could have ever wished for."
The family has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for a memorial. If you want to donate, you can find it here.
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