Jennifer DeLeon broke down in tears Thursday as she remembered her beloved dog, Chi Chi.
“She never bothered a soul,” DeLeon said. “She was the friendliest dog and she’s just gone…My kids are like devastated. It’s just, I don’t know, I just don’t know how to deal with it.”
DeLeon said she took Chi Chi to get a rabies vaccine at the Petco in Leominster Tuesday.
“Next thing I know I’m looking for a collar and I come back and I find my dog on the floor covered with blood,” she said. “They were like ‘we just want to let you know the dog didn’t make it.’ I’m like, over a rabies shot? Why? I don’t know.”
7News reached out to Petco and received a statement that reads, in part:
“The health and safety of pets is always our top priority and we take this situation very seriously. We’re conducting a thorough investigation to understand everything we can about Chi Chi’s untimely passing.”
DeLeon says her 10-year-old daughter is taking the dog’s death especially hard.
“I just don’t understand what happened,” she said. “She was out here playing that morning with the other dogs and we put her in the car and we left and the next thing I know she’s dead.”
Now the family is left with only photos and memories of their pet as they wait for answers.
“I know people look at me like it’s only a dog, but I’ve had that dog and he’s been a part of my family for 8 years,” she said. “I mean it’s like having another family member.”
Chi Chi’s family hopes in the next few days they’ll get answers as to exactly what happened. They say at that time, they’ll figure out what comes next.
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