HOUSTON – A north Harris County woman has been reunited with her dog after it mysteriously disappeared from a boarding facility while she was on vacation.
Kjihla Evans is grateful to have her dog, Blue, back.
The last time she saw the 16-week-old Cane Corso was when she dropped her off at Abbott Animal Clinic, located on Sugar Pine Dr near Cypress Creek Pkwy, on June 11. It was right before she headed off to Mexico on a one-week cruise.
“We had asked them, ‘Do you guys normally board puppies?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, we have our own puppy area. She’s going to be safe, pretty much away from other dogs,” Evans said.
Evans also boarded her other three dogs, which are the same breed. She said they’ve stayed overnight at the clinic before, but it was Blue’s first time. When Evans returned on June 18 to pick up her four dogs, she said the clinic told her Blue disappeared on June 12 between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Evans said she only had the puppy for a month after waiting four years on a waitlist.
“We had asked them, ‘You know somebody stole our dog?’ They said, ‘Yes, we think somebody stole your dog. It’s definitely somebody from the clinic,’” Evans said. “We were just really confused, like so, (did) the clinic still run as normal for a whole week? Like, employees still came in and out of work?”
Evans said she never received a phone call or email from the clinic.
The clinic’s office manager told KPRC2 that they searched all the kennels and the entire property before filing a police report on June 12. The employees also said they tried calling the Evans family daily, but couldn’t reach them until the family returned on June 18 to retrieve their dogs.
Evans said while at the clinic, she and her mother called law enforcement to file a police report because the clinic staff was taking a long time to provide the documentation they were requesting. She said the responding deputy ended up detaining her and her mother.
“The nurses said that we were slandering them so the cop told us aggressively, ‘Y’all need to stand outside because y’all are slandering their name,’” Evans said. “And we’re like, ‘Slander? Slander is lying. We’re here to pick up our dog and our dog is not here.’”
Evans said the deputy handcuffed them and took them to jail where they stayed for 24 hours. Evans said she was charged with intervening with public service and her mother is facing a felony mischief charge.
The clinic told KPRC 2 that the duo was cursing, threatening the staff and harassing the other customers by telling them not to bring their dogs there. The employee said they offered to reimburse the family for the cost of the dog or to make the situation right.
The staff member said the clinic does not have cameras inside the facility but is investigating how Blue disappeared. They are not certain if the puppy was stolen, but plan to have all the employees take a lie detector test.
On Wednesday, Evans said a woman contacted her after seeing a missing dog flyer saying she may have found Blue. The woman told Evans she had purchased the puppy from a man in a parking lot located a half-mile away from the animal clinic.
“It was just a crazy experience,” Evans said. Four days of me diligently looking in the street. It’s like what could the clinic have done? They took two weeks and I took four days.”
Evans said she had Blue checked out by a veterinarian Thursday and the dog appears unharmed.