STURGIS, Mich. – A Michigan family is looking for answers after their 2-year-old dog died during a recent ear-cleaning.
The family, from Sturgis, took their dog, Rocky, to Fawn River Animal Clinic, where they assumed the procedure would be routine.
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"It was very shocking to us," said Rocky's owner, Ashton Sutton told WNDU. "We had no clue that there was even a possibility of death. They never explained anything to us. The call, it dropped my heart, you know? My heart sank."
"It's very hard, as me and my fiancee can't have children," Sutton said. "So, that was our baby that had passed away on the table."
The clinic told WNDU that during the procedure, the dog wouldn't calm down, so they were forced to use an anesthetic.
"I didn't give him anything that should have been close to an overdose ... for his size," Fawn River Animal Clinic owner John Lindamood told WNDU.
While Rocky's cause of death has not been determined, Lindamood suggested the dog had a bad reaction to the anesthesia.
"Could have been allergies, could have just been the anesthetic results too," Lindamood said. "Got a lot of them and sometimes anesthetics just ... you just can't predict the darn stuff."
WNDU reports the family never signed a waiver before the procedure, which is normally required.
Sutton said the family is looking into legal action against the clinic.