Tewksbury woman says dog's ashes could be lost forever after animal hospital's mistake
TEWKSBURY - A Tewksbury woman's grief over her beloved dog is becoming more painful. She tells WBZ the animal hospital made a mistake and her pet's ashes could be lost forever.
Mary Ricci is now fighting to get them back, so she can heal from the loss. "It's so hard because the wound is so fresh," said Ricci. "She was the best. She was the sweetest."
It's difficult enough to lose a sweet and special companion of 13 years, Delilah. Ricci had to have her put down at Bulger Animal Hospital on Saturday. The 14-year-old black mouth cur therapy dog had dementia.
But to make the heartbreak worse, Ricci says she cried over a call she got from the animal hospital saying there was a mix-up with her request to cremate Delilah and get the ashes.
She was told someone accidentally chose "communal cremation" meaning the dog was cremated with other dogs, and she won't get the ashes back.
"I just screamed for an hour, I thought I broke a vocal cord," said Ricci. "It wasn't supposed to be that and there was an error in the way they entered it in the system. And I said, 'what does that mean? That I don't get her back?' And that means I don't get her back."
WBZ reached out to Bulger Veterinary Hospital and the team sent a statement saying, "At Bulger Veterinary Hospital, we are dedicated to providing compassionate care to our community. We are deeply sorry for the loss of the owner's beloved pet, and our team shares in their sadness. We are currently investigating to determine what occurred and are working with the owner to resolve her concerns."
"An apology is not enough; it does not make it right," Ricci said.
Ricci then reached out to the pet crematory "Forget Me Not," asking if she can get the communal ashes belonging to Delilah and the other dogs. But she was told, and WBZ was told, she can't.
"I don't see why that's a problem," she said. "I really don't."
The crematory's parent company sent WBZ a statement saying, "That grief is a real thing for pet parents, and they protect their pet parent's privacy (by not calling them) and are not going to go against their wishes to have their pet's ashes spread and not returned."
"What difference does it make if the other people don't want their dogs' ashes anyway?" asked Ricci. "They'd be giving them to someone who will hold those ashes in love and care, and I will acknowledge their pets."
And Mary is not giving up getting her Delilah's remains until she's home where she belongs. "She belongs with me, and she always did," said Ricci.
Mary hopes if anyone out there recently had their pets cremated communally, please reach out to the crematory so maybe there's a chance to get Delilah's ashes back with the other dogs.
The community has been using the hashtag #BringDelilahHome to get their message across online.