A woman was "broken" when her dead dog was lost by animal hospital staff and wrongfully cremated.
Catherine Mitchell, 31, who lives in Walton, was "just completely broken" when the body of her Yorkshire Terrier was lost after she died last weekend. After 'Poppy' died, Catherine made arrangements with PDSA Huyton, an animal end-of-life charity, to have her individually cremated so she could keep the ashes of her "best friend."
Yet, Catherine said a member of staff at PDSA Huyton mislabelled her dog's body despite her wishes, meaning later she recieved a call from the hospital saying she had been lost. Catherine said her broken heart was "shattered" when she recieved another call confirming her dog, who she had since she was 16, had been communally cremated alongside others from the hospital, and their ashes scattered together over a memorial garden.
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Mum of two Catherine, originally from Wolverhampton, told the ECHO: "I stayed with Poppy as she died. She'd been with me 15 years.
"After she died I made arrangements with the staff for her to be individually cremated. Then later they rang me and told me they can't find my dog's body.
"I was questioning them like what do you mean you don't know where Poppy is?
"All day Tuesday I was going to the PDSA. It was like I was chasing after her even though she was dead.
"They soon told me Poppy's body had been labelled to be part of a communal cremation, not individual like I'd asked. A member of staff had mislabelled her for communal cremation. They'd scattered her ashes like fertiliser.
"I was just completely broken. My heart was shattered when I heard.
"I'd thought the PDSA was top notch. Poppy was 15 years of my life, she was my whole world.
"She went with me through everything and everyone knew who she was through me."
In her tribute to Poppy, Catherine said: "My little sweetheart Poppy. What am I going to do without you now that you're gone, nearly 15 years of happy memories and you gave me all your love as so did I to you.
"You went so quickly. I didn’t see it coming.
"But I suppose this was your time to go to that rainbow bridge with my dad there waiting for you I hope I did a good job being your mummy. I’ll never forget you my little best friend.
"Goodnight my Sweetheart Poppy. May you rest in peace and in no more pain.
"I love you so very much. Always and forever, girl."
A spokesperson for PDSA said: "We’re very sorry to hear about the loss of Ms Mitchell’s beloved dog and would like to send our sincere condolences, both to her and her family at this difficult time. Due to client confidentiality rules we are unable to comment on individual cases.
"We can, however, confirm that an issue has been raised regarding our Huyton Pet Hospital and that we are in contact with the owner regarding the situation. We aim to provide a professional and caring service at all times and take complaints very seriously.
"Along with our out-of-hours provider, we will fully explore Ms Mitchell’s concerns to establish what has happened, and will be in contact with her directly when a thorough investigation has taken place.”
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