The video above and the information in the text below are courtesy KTVT Reporter Jennifer Lindgren via CNN.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Authorities raided a popular veterinary clinic in Texas Tuesday after a family's shocking discovery that the pet they thought was euthanized was kept alive.
It was a family reunion Marian Harris can still hardly believe.
"He was able to walk and jump in the back of my minivan, so it was an excitement to be reunited,” she said.
Her 4-year-old Leonberger, Sid had seemingly come back from the dead.
Harris said that, in October, Veterinarian Lou Tierce at the Camp Bowie Animal Clinic recommended that Sid be euthanized, because of worsening health problems.
The family said their tearful goodbyes, "and that was the end of it,” Harris said.
Then on April 21, the Harrises got a phone call from Mary Brewer, a former employee of the clinic, who told the owners Sid was alive but was in a cage and wasn’t getting properly treated.
"My one son said, ‘This is the best day ever because we have Sid back,’ but it's my angriest day ever that somebody could do this,” Harris said.
Animal control removed two more dogs as evidence in the local and state investigations.
A well-respected, licensed vet since 1966, doctor Tierce has a clean record. And many people stopped by the clinic in the Tierce's defense.
"He's absolutely the best vet I've ever seen. I'd let him operate on me,” one pet owner said.
Samantha Spence had her golden retriever put down in December. She came to the clinic to verify that was the case.
"I just want to make sure that he's not out there," she said. "Like a missing child, you know, I just want to make sure."
The Harris' claim the dog was kept alive to give other dogs blood, and the family's attorney says investigators have found evidence to support the allegation.
