A dog owner says her beloved pet died at the veterinarian, and she thinks it's their fault.
To call Kaitlyn Trela an animal lover is an understatement. She has four dogs, but Frank was her favorite.
"Frank was the best dog ever," said Trela of the 6-year-old St. Bernard who died about two months ago. "He was just the most loyal dog. He would never leave my side."
Trela said Frank stopped eating, and she took him to the vet. She said they told her he would need to have his thyroid removed, but before they could go into surgery he would need a feeding tube to gain back his strength. About an hour after dropping him off, Trela got a call.
"She sounded panicked, and she was like, 'something terrible is happening, he's not breathing. Do you want us to resuscitate him?'" remembers Trela. "And I was like, 'what's happening?' She's like, 'someone put his feeding tube in wrong.'"
Frank passed away while at Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care at Tropicana Avenue and Durango Drive.
We spoke with Hospital Administrator Dean Penniman. He remembered Frank and Trela, but could not recall any specific details. He said all their vets are trained beyond veterinary school -- they are all specialists and the animals they see are usually in pretty sick. Penniman also said they do about 250 surgeries a month, and the cases can be very complicated.
"Things can go wrong when you're treating a human, so it happens unfortunately," said Kathy Jung, who is the President of the Nevada SPCA.
The NSPCA has a vet clinic and their vets treat the animals that come through their doors before they adopt them out.
"The thing about animals is they can't talk, they can't tell you, 'hey I have a stomach ache, head hurts, my ears hurt,' so they can't communicate like we can," said Jung.
If you think your vet did something wrong, file a complaint with the Nevada Veterinary Board so they can investigate.
