POCATELLO — Gil Guevara still gets emotional when he talks about losing his beloved dog, Noka, last week.
The 2-year-old pit bull cross died Friday at the Hawthorne Animal Clinic where she had undergone a simple spaying procedure.
Guevara believes negligence by the animal clinic caused his pet’s death.
Noka was checked into Hawthorne Animal Clinic Wednesday morning. Guevara took advantage of a $99 deal from the Bannock Humane Society to have the dog spayed and vaccinated for rabies – she was also pregnant at the time. Noka was spayed on Thursday.
Guevara, who works as a mechanic in American Falls, did not make it back to Pocatello in time to pick her up before the clinic closed Thursday, so Noka spent the night at the clinic. Sometime during the night the dog chewed her sutures out exposing her intestines.
A vet found her the next morning and surgery was performed to save her life.
Guevara said a cone should have been placed around the dog’s neck to keep her from licking or chewing the stitches.
But veterinarian Lonna Gurstner said the dog was not licking or scratching the wound following the surgery and the staff did not believe the device was necessary According to the veterinarian at 10 pm Thursday night, Noka’s incision was intact and she was calm.
“There was no indication that a cone or collar was needed,” Gurstner said.
Gurstner said in her 33 years as a vet, it was only the third time she had seen a case like Noka’s and it was the first time it had happened at the clinic.
“The other two times this happened, it happened after they took the dogs home,” she said.
Guevara’s partner, Roberta Ware, said Noka was prone to kennel anxiety, which most likely kicked in when she was left alone that night. Ware said they did not inform the staff at Hawthorne Animal Clinic about the condition.
Ware and Guevara have two other pit bull dogs, Chip, a 2-year-old male was rescued after he was found wandering in Fort Hall in the dead of winter, and Dream, a 1-year-old female they inherited from Ware’s son.
“I was going to take Dream in to be spayed as well, but now I’m not sure I want to,” Ware said.
When Guevara got Noka, she had been kenneled for most of her life.
“They fed her, but she didn’t get any exercise and rarely got out of the (dog run),” Guevara said. “I walked her and even built a kennel for my truck so I could take her and Chip with me.”
Dream and Noka had gotten into a fight the weekend before and Noka’s face was still healing from those minor wounds when she was admitted to Hawthorne.
Guevara said the clinic called him at his job Friday morning and told him about Noka’s condition. He immediately left work and headed to Pocatello to be with his dog — on the way, the clinic called back to say Noka had died.
But when he arrived at Hawthorne Animal Clinic, Guevara was told Noka was still alive.
“The vet said, ‘It’s like a miracle, she started breathing again,’” Guevara said.
He stayed with his pet for the next six hours. Noka died at about 2 p.m. Guevara and Ware brought the dog home and buried her in their front yard.
“(Guevara) took it really hard, it was like he lost his child,” Ware said. “I hear him crying in the morning.”
Guevara said he hopes telling his story will alert other pet owners about what could happen without the protective cone.
“I think it was negligence,” he said. “I think putting the cone on should be standard procedure,” he said.
Both Guevara and Ware said they have no intention of getting another dog.
Sharon Angle, a volunteer with the Bannock Humane Society, said the group has helped spay and neuter about 1,500 dogs and a majority of those procedures were done at Hawthorne Animal Clinic. Angle said she also takes her own pets to the clinic.
“They have sent my pets home without a cone and occasionally with (the cone),” Angle said.