Every dog parent knows that losing your furry baby is utterly heartbreaking.

The bond between a dog and its human is strong and irreplaceable, and when that bond is broken, the pain the hooman feels is beyond words.

One doggo mama felt this exact pain when she had to put down her pup. However, later she learned that that wasn’t really the case.

Kristie And Beau

When Kristie Pereira adopted Beau, an adorable hound-mix puppy, from a shelter in Northern Virginia, she was more than ready to become a proud dog owner.

She spent every single day hanging out with her pup, having fun playdates and cozy naps.

However, after a couple of months, she noticed that Beau started behaving differently.

Pereira took Beau to the vet for a check-up and was informed that he may have some neurological issues. The vet prescribed him some meds and stated that she should take him to the emergency room if she didn’t notice any improvement.

Unfortunately, since the puppy’s condition didn’t improve, Pereira took him to an ER in Montgomery County, Maryland, and got the same information – Beau did, in fact, have major health problems.  

She was told that expensive and invasive tests were available. However, they probably wouldn’t improve the pup’s state at all. Therefore, they advised her to consider euthanasia.

After giving it some thought, and with a heavy heart, she decided to take him to the Montgomery County Animal Services and put Beau down.

Shocking Discovery

Since the policy of the animal service does not allow owners to be present in the room during the procedure, Pereira had to say goodbye to her boy and hand him over to the vet.

“I don’t think that someone that just wanted to get rid of the dog would feel anywhere close to how I’m feeling about this and how I have felt about it. Like, none of it was easy,” Pereira told Fox 32.

Fox 32 did obtain a form that pet owners are obliged to fill out when bringing their pup in for euthanasia, and on it was a box in bold that indicated that the owner requests humane euthanasia.

However, the form also states that if Montgomery County determines that the pet is treatable and adoptable, they have the right to treat the pup and put it up for adoption.

This is exactly what happened to Beau!

After a thorough examination, it was determined that the pup was suffering from a liver issue. Therefore, they treated him and, instead of sending him back to Pereira, they sent him back to his original shelter in Northern Virginia.

Because Pereira had no idea about this, she was still mourning the loss of her beloved pup. Then, one day, she came across a Facebook post about a puppy being put up for adoption — and it was Beau!

Pereira had no idea what to think.

“An emotional rollercoaster, it’s [been], to say the least… He was like my little baby,” the confused owner told the news channel.

Montgomery County Animal Services told Fox 32 that they do not contact the owners of the pup if they do not euthanize the pup in the end unless the owner calls them and expresses their immediate regret regarding the decision.

But, Pereira reported that, according to her recollection of the conversation, the animal services told her that if the vets said there was a major health issue and that it would be best for her to euthanize him, she should opt for the choice which made her most comfortable with.

The adoption organization expressed its deep understanding of how Pereira felt, but it also stated that it has a strict policy not to return surrendered pups to their former owners, and that’s exactly what happened in this situation.