My beautiful, wonderful dog Pancho died a brutal death last Friday, due to the harsh protocol followed by the Animal Hospital of Cotati. As it turns out, they do not administer a sedative before injecting the lethal medication that stops the heart. Because Pancho was not sedated first, he had a TERRIBLE reaction to the lethal injection, and let out 4 bloodcurdling screams before his heart stopped. While he was screaming, he stretched his legs long and tight. For the next minute or more after his heart stopped, he made these awful sounds that the vet said was air being emitted from this diaphragm. That made me scream when it first happened, because I thought he was still alive. The whole experience was beyond traumatic. Poor Pancho, who had experienced a serious illness for the last three years, wasn't even able to die in peace because the Animal Hospital of Cotati couldn't be bothered with giving a sedative first. They assured me that it is very rare of a dog to experience this reaction, but I can assure you, if it has happened even once before it happened to Pancho, they should have changed their procedure for euthanizing animals. The vet told me that Pancho's screams were from a kind of disorientation rather than pain, but whether the screams were from pain or fear, it was an awful, awful way to die. Now I have to live with the memory of that for the rest of my life. I will never use their services again.
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