A family is left heartbroken and losing thousands of dollars after the puppy they adopted from their local animal shelter had to be put down a month later.
“I think the hardest thing is seeing your children go through this…. they are teenagers, and immediately she (the puppy) became friends with them and their struggles with anxiety. She was the perfect pet for them,” says Nicole Brickell.
Brickell and her husband have two teenagers and say the family was thrilled to welcome a new four-legged friend into their lives after their dog died of old age earlier in the year.
Having adopted a dog in the past, Brickell says the family knew they wanted to provide a home for another rescue dog, which led them to the Orillia Ontario SPCA animal shelter.
She says that in late November, they saw an adoption post for a six-month-old puppy named Charlie.
“Charlie was the first one we met and she was immediately just lovely. She was calm by nature,” Brickell recalls.
Nicole Brickell with her new dog Charlie from the Orillia SPCA.
Provided by Nicole Brickell
Before being adopted, Charlie had been sterilized and had hernia surgery.
Brickell said they asked if there were any other health issues they should be aware of, and she said beyond an eye issue, which the animal was taking medication for and that he had to gain more weight, they were told the dog was healthy.
But what they thought would be a happy addition to the family quickly became complicated: the puppy wasn’t eating much, was excessively thirsty and acting very tired.
“Looking back on it now, when she was six months old at the time, she should have had more energy, but we thought it was just her getting used to us,” Brickell recalled.
Nicole Brickell’s son pictured with their dog, Charlie, adopted at the Orillia SPCA.
Provided by Nicole Brickell
The family took the dog to several veterinarians for a few weeks, but things only got worse.
Receive national news daily
Get the day’s top news, politics, business and current affairs headlines delivered to your inbox once a day.
“We thought we had a healthy dog, but it was more the decline until the end of his life that we were experiencing and the fact that we had our house as a hospice, which we did not know at the time” , remembers Brickell.
She says after the dog continued to vomit and become lethargic, they ended up at an emergency veterinarian. Blood tests showed the dog had kidney problems and the family received more than $10,000 for treatment.
Brickell says they tried calling the SPCA to find out what blood tests had been done on the dog before the adoption, and were eventually told none had been done.
Faced with a sky-high quote, she says the SPCA gave them the option of giving up Charlie or getting their adoption fees refunded and keeping her, but they would be required to cover medical costs.
Brickell says the family initially chose to surrender the dog, saying they felt pressured.
“I was syringe feeding her because she was so lethargic and had no desire to eat or drink. I was exhausted, frustrated, angry, all these types of emotions (and) I feel like (the) manager was not helpful or empathetic to the situation “, she remembers.
Nicole Brickell and her husband with their dog Charlie at the Orillia SPCA.
Provided by Nicole Brickell
Brickell says the SPCA referred her to another emergency veterinarian for care and once there, they changed their minds and opted to go with a payment plan to cover the dog’s care .
“I had spoken with my husband and we realized that we could not abandon him. We wouldn’t have access to it and we might not be able to get it back,” she says.
After further testing and treatment, medical notes show the dog suffered from renal dysplasia, meaning she was missing one kidney and the second was tiny.
Brickell says they were told the dog had a few days or even weeks to live, and ultimately, they decided to put him down.
She says now they’re facing nearly $8,000 in medical bills and are distraught over losing their newest family member in just 38 days.
“It’s hard because we had an idea of what things would be like with a new puppy, and we were totally blindsided,” she says.
Brickell questions why blood tests, which could have revealed kidney problems, weren’t done when the dog was sterilized before adoption.
Dr. Maggie Brown-Bury, executive member of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, said it is considered good practice to do blood work before any anesthetic event, such as a spay or neuter, to ensure ensure that the animal will respond well to anesthesia.
She says it also allows them to detect any “congenital problems with the kidneys or liver that may not yet have obvious symptoms, but could have a big impact on the anesthesia,” adding that it gives them the opportunity to detect these conditions. so that “we can support the animal in the best possible way”.
Charlie, six months old, adopted from the Orillia SPCA.
Provided by Nicole Brickell
But Brown-Bury says that while most clinics do this, some don’t require it because 99 percent of the time, blood tests come back normal.
She says the cost of blood tests before an animal is spayed or neutered is usually around $100, and sometimes a congenital problem is not developed enough to show up.
“I think when it comes to a shelter where it’s a nonprofit and trying to help as many animals as possible, they have to do some sort of cost analysis of any procedure or protocol put in place. I want to have in place. And when it comes to spaying and neutering young animals, the vast majority will have normal blood tests,” says Brown-Bury.
A spokesperson for the Ontario SPCA told Global News in an emailed statement that they are “deeply saddened by this situation and extend our deepest condolences to Charlie’s family during this time difficult”.
They said they have been in regular communication with the family since they first shared Charlie’s health concerns, and that the health and well-being of the animals in their care was “always our concern.” absolute priority.
“We work with veterinarians who evaluate and treat each of these animals as necessary before they are made available for adoption. Charlie received the same veterinary care,” the statement said.
But Brickell believes more could have been done to uncover Charlie’s medical issues before she was placed for adoption and hopes that by speaking out, another family won’t find themselves in a similar situation.
“We now have immense debt from medical bills, not only for the emergency visits, but also for the other vet visits we had and for all the procedures she had. They (the Ontario SPCA) refused, basically saying it was our fault, even though they ultimately provided us with a sick dog.