RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT)—A Richmond couple is sharing their story with 12 On Your Side in hopes of helping other pet parents.
Hayden and Matthew Prelaz’s dog died after being admitted to an emergency vet.
They say what happened to her is rare but possibly preventable, and they want to avoid the same thing from happening to other animals.
“Moira. She was that dog. She was that dog for us,” Hayden said.
Moira was a rescue dog who captured the Prelaz’s hearts.
“She was timid but sweet,” Matthew said. “And even just in the last year to six months, she was really starting to come out of her show a little bit more.”
Their three-and-a-half years together ended unexpectedly in the summer of 2024 after Moira was rushed to an emergency vet in Carytown and admitted overnight for monitoring.
“That night, we got a call that she got loose while being taken out to the bathroom,” Matthew said.
“The fact that she was taken outside for a bathroom break, in general was just not something that we were aware of,” Hayden said. ”We had just been kind of told she would just be sedated the whole evening.”
They say Moira was a shy and skittish dog. The Prelazs say it’s likely when a tech took her outside, she was likely spooked by something.
“While we think what happened to Moira is in the hours after she got away from the facility just incredibly, hopefully very rare, it happened to us,” said Hayden. ”And, you know, it’s a reality that we have to live with. And we don’t want this to happen to anybody else.”
In the hours after she got away from the facility, the Prelazs say friends and family did their best to help them search in the hours after she got away from the facility.
“We had many people text or call in from the posters, just telling us that they were thinking of us and that they were looking out,” Matthew said.
“Complete strangers, reaching out and offering their support,” Hayden said.
“She ended up running around, ended up on 195, where she was hit and killed,” Matthew recalled.
Richmond Animal Care and Control eventually found Moira.
“We were very sad when our officer found her in the way that we did,” said RACC Director Christie Chipps Peters.
Chipps Peters says what happened to Moira is unfortunate and, sadly, something she’s experienced at RACC.
”We had a dog and we were doing an exam that dog got out, and every door was, like, either propped open or someone was coming in, and that dog made its way out and got hit on Chamberlane Road,” Chipps Peters said.
She also says it’s uncommon for veterinarian clinics in the city to have fenced-in spaces to take pets out for bathroom breaks.
“I don’t know of a clinic that has a fenced-in space,” Chipps Peters said. ”So it’s not uncommon for that to that to be the scenario. Oh yeah. I think it’s more uncommon for them to have fenced-in spaces, at least in the city. It might be different in the county.”
“We didn’t even get to say goodbye,” Hayden said.
She says the facility apologized and shared plans to include enclosed outdoor spaces in a new building it will eventually open.
“They recognize it’s a challenge that they’ve had for a while,” Hayden said. ”Which is great. Of course, it doesn’t bring our Moira back.”
They’re also using social media to educate pet owners.
“We really want to have kind of checklist that pet parents can take, with them into vet appointments for questions to ask,” Hayden said. “Like, ‘Hey, what’s the open line of communication if I need to call once? Like it’s after hours, what’s the best way to get through so I can check on my pet? If my dog is going outside and there’s not a fenced area, what is the leash situation? What does that look like?”
All of this is in memory of Moira, who gave them more than she will ever know.
“She just made us laugh. She just protected her people,” Hayden said. “And. Yeah, just seeing her grow and change so much was just truly such an honor. And we’re glad that even though it was way too short, we got to show her a really good life.”
12 On Your Side has contacted Virginia Veterinary Centers in Carytown twice, but we have not heard back.
But again, Hayden was told the practice is making changes and prioritizing an enclosure at a future facility.
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