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Family, veterinarian at odds after Malamute found dead in kennel

The owner said she doesn't think the vet's story adds up, but the veterinarian said it was a case of negligence on the families' behalf.

A family is angry and confused after they boarded their dog at a vet hospital and days later found out he had died and had been beheaded for a rabies test before they could say their final goodbye.

Christina Munoz said she doesn't think the vet’s story adds up, but the veterinarian, George Hill, said it was a case of negligence on the families’ behalf.

Munoz dropped off her dog, Diesel, at Oak Hills Animal Hospital in Floresville on July 3 for a few days to be groomed and get his vaccinations. She said just two days later, when she was ready to pick him up, she found out he was dead.

“He was my baby. He was my big baby,” Munoz said.

Diesel, a giant Alaskan Malamute, was found dead in his kennel. Hill said based on his experience, Diesel was suffering from a condition called discospondylitis, which he said is a problem for giant dogs.

“They have heart problems. They die of heart attacks,” Hill said. “Well, little did I know that he was going to be dead in 36 hours from a thunderstorm and fireworks. I don’t know which one did it, but he obviously died from just anxiety.”

Hill said he believes if Munoz’s husband would have signed a consent form to sedate Diesel, to calm him down the night of the fireworks, he would still be alive, but Munoz believes there is more to the story. She said Diesel was scared of fireworks, but it never amounted to a panic.

"I feel in my heart it was something else. I don't believe it was a heart attack because he was just too healthy and too young," Munoz said.

She said she believes Diesel was overmedicated after the vet sedated him for snapping at vet technicians, just two days before he died on July, 5. Hill said Diesel bit the groomer while he was sedated and he was forced to give him anesthesia to calm him down.

Munoz said her dog has never bitten anyone and added that she was so shocked she asked for pictures from the hospital.

Hill argued that Diesel had fully recovered from the anesthesia.

Diesel was behind on his vaccinations, including his rabies shots, which Hill said he received just an hour before he bit the groomer.

Hill said he did not believe Diesel had rabies and decided not to quarantine him, but he said after he was found dead he was forced to test him for rabies, which involves removing his head and sending it out to a lab in Austin.

“The state of Texas demands their tissue, and you’ve got to relinquish it,” Hill said.

Munoz said Hill offered to cremate Diesel, but they told him they would sleep on it.

“When we said we wanted to go pick up his body, he said, ‘Well, he’s already on his way to the ranch to get cremated, and by the way, he doesn’t have a head,’” Munoz said.

Munoz says they will never know why their beloved Diesel died because they never got a chance to have a necropsy preformed on him.

Hill said he offered the family a discount and feels bad but adds that he didn’t do anything wrong.

Diesel’s ashes are now at the vet hospital along with a nearly $700 bill.

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