Healthy guide dog killed to grant final wish
The family of a blind woman who died from cancer has received death threats after her healthy five-year-old guide dog was put down so it could be buried alongside her.
Sheila Stadler, 68, expressed to her family that her wish was to be buried with her beloved labrador, Toffee.
Her son Andrew fulfilled her final wish by having the dog put down so it could be placed inside her coffin after she died on March 8.
He said the dog had been lost without its best friend and ‘wandered aimlessly’ while mourning in the days after Mrs Stadler died.
The controversial decision to put down the healthy guide dog has spurred a hate campaign from the local Terre Haute community, animal lovers and even her own family.
“It got totally out of control, the neigbourhood was really angry”, said veterinary assistant Gregory Rielly.
“People were saying they should burn in hell. Terrible things were said.”
“Mr Stadler told me he had received death threats and a member of his own family wrote on a Facebook page that she could not believe he had done it.”
Even Mr Reilly was implicated in the hate campaign after being mistakenly blamed for putting Toffee down.
“We would never euthanise a dog - we simply find them a new home”, he said.
“It seems very morbid to me but unfortunately as the dog was their property, it was perfectly legal.”
It is not known when or how the pet was euthanised.
