A DOG owner is devastated after a Chester vet’s mistakenly sent her beloved pet for a communal cremation rather than the individual one she had paid for.

Ann Howard, from Blacon, was heartbroken when 14-year-old Fluffy was diagnosed with terminal cancer and she and husband Anthony took the decision to have her put down.

The distraught pair took the Chow Chow to Flookersbrook Veterinary Surgery in Hoole on Tuesday, October 1, and paid £180 for an individual cremation.

They had built a shrine in Fluffy’s memory in the back garden where her ashes would be kept alongside flowers and teddy bears.

Chester and District Standard:

The shrine in memory of Fluffy.

But when they called a week later in preparation for picking up the urn it immediately became apparent that something was amiss.

It later turned out that Fluffy’s body had mistakenly been sent to be cremated alongside other pets, and Ann and Anthony would never get their dog’s ashes back.

Ann, 47, told The Standard: “We’re absolutely devastated. The image I keep having is this mass cremation and my poor little girl mixed in with that.

“It’s such a horrible image and I can’t get rid of it. I don’t want to remember her like that.”

She added: “We were going to have a memorial to her outside. I had spent all of that morning getting everything right, putting teddies and flowers out, ready for her to come home.

Chester and District Standard:

Ann Howard with a photo of Fluffy near the memorial in her back garden.

“Then when we spoke to the vet he said ‘I’ve got some terrible news – she never got her individual cremation’. I just broke down crying, and my husband did as well. We just didn’t know how they could do this to us. We made it very clear that we wanted her back.

“I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Ann and Anthony, 58, who live on Wyndham Road, received a hand-written letter from vet Chris Davies at Flookersbrook Veterinary Surgery.

In it he apologised profusely for the error and “heartache” caused to the couple, saying they would be fully refunded for all associated fees. He has also vowed to contribute to a plaque in Fluffy’s honour.

Chester and District Standard:

Fluffy.

Mr Davies told this newspaper the mistake was down to human error and procedures were now in place to ensure it never happens again.

He said: “This was an unfortunate case of human error. We have put in place new procedures to try to prevent this happening again.

“We have apologised profusely to the Howard family and refunded the cremation costs and made a contribution to the cost of a plaque or plinth to commemorate Fluffy’s life.

“Again we are sorry for the distress caused.”

Chester and District Standard:

The letter of apology from the vet's.