Utah woman takes dog in for teeth cleaning, confusion leads to unnecessary surgery


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CLEARFIELD — When Maria Jones of Utah County took her 4-year-old Jack Russell, Pepper, to the vet last week, a big misunderstanding resulted in one big mistake.

Jones scheduled an appointment for Pepper at the Heartsong Clinic in Clearfield upon high recommendation from a friend.

"I called to schedule a teeth cleaning. That's what I wanted. That's what she needed," Jones said.

She never expected Pepper to go under the knife for a surgery she already had.

Terry Emmons, the owner of the Heartsong Clinic said out of more than 17,000 procedures at his office, this was a first.

"She signed the paperwork and we took the dog back," Emmons said. "The doctor went in to spay her and the parts that you take out … weren't there."

On that paperwork, one confusing check mark led to the eventual mistake.

"(It) was marked as a spay," Emmons said.

Jones said, "I saw the spay box had been checked and I thought, that's correct. She'd been spayed before."

Emmons admitted there could have been a mix up with the appointment book.

"I'm not sure it was our error, but at least somewhere along the line, maybe we made a mistake," Emmons said.

That mistake left behind a double scar, and a lesson to pay attention.

Jones had to take off work to care for Pepper after the unexpected surgery.

This incident was the first and last time Jones said she'll take Pepper to the Heartsong Clinic.

The office asked her to pay $35 to cover the cost of the anesthesia. She said she "reluctantly" handed over the money.

Heartsong Clinic said it is taking steps to ensure something similar never happens again.

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