Family warns other pet owners following tragic loss after routine surgery
A family is struggling with the loss of a beloved pet after a tragic turn following a routine pet surgery.
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The veterinarian who performed it is part of a major national pet store chain, that is now in the vet industry: Petco.
It’s where Yanous Willis and his wife took their three-year-old dog, Bella.
“My wife and I are supposed to be going through therapy because this was a lot on us,” Willis told our sister station WSB-TV.
According to Bella’s medical records, she was suffering from pyometra, which is an infection of the uterus, the only way to save her life was to get her spayed. The first quote that Willis got for the surgery was $7,000, but his barbershop was right beside a Petco, the store’s in-house animal hospital “Vetco” charged only $1,400 for the surgery.
“I trusted Petco,” he said.
Petco is one of the multiple businesses that have entered the vet business, along with Walmart and the Mars Corporation -- yes, the candy company.
Dr. Judy Morgan worked for four decades as a veterinarian. Nowadays, she writes, speaks, and informs owners about how to keep their pets healthy.
“It’s sort of like when pharmacies went to big chains. We don’t have that connection,” Morgan said, “We don’t have that one-on-one where you’re part of the family anymore, and I think that’s a huge loss for the pet owner.”
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Willis’ wife is a nurse and was the first to notice Bella’s sutures didn’t look right and the staples were coming loose. So, they took Bella back to Petco and paid another $500 to fix her wound. Once she was back home tragedy struck.
“All of a sudden, my wife is screaming and howling on the phone and said my dog’s intestines are everywhere,” Willis said, “My kids had to sit there and watch, watch my dog suffer.”
According to Dr. Morgan, Bella should’ve had three layers of sutures to close the wound. She also said while the pyometra surgeries can be more complicated than a traditional spay, the survival rate is 98%.
“I’m a general practitioner. I have practiced for 36 years, and I have done hundreds of these pyometra surgeries. Never had a problem, never had an animal die,” Morgan said.
In a statement, Pecto said:
“After a thorough review of Bella’s case, we’re confident our veterinary team responded appropriately to her pyometra ... and performed their best effort to relieve and resolve an emergent infection, including providing post-surgery care instructions.”
“We got her during the pandemic and a lot of anxiety and pain was going on from the pandemic,” Willis said, “And she brought joy and love to the whole family.”
Petco has offered to refund all of Willis’ bills saying:
“All of us at Petco are heartbroken by Bella’s untimely passing and, as pet parents ourselves, we understand nothing can make up for the loss of a beloved pet. To help, we’re offering to cover all of Bella’s veterinary expenses.”
Channel 9 checked the license of the vet who performed Bella’s surgery; he has been licensed since 2016 with a clean record.
Dr. Morgan says when your pet needs surgery the most important questions to ask are:
How much surgical experience does the doctor have?
How many times have they done this specific surgery on a dog this size?
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