SENOIA, Ga. — An animal hospital is apologizing to a family that brought in a 19-year-old cat to be euthanized, only to learn the cat was still alive 18 months later and living with a hospital employee.
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A report filed with the Senoia Police Department says the cat’s owner, Brian Jagt, brought the cat to the Senoia Animal Hospital and Pet Resort in mid-February 2025 to be euthanized and cremated.
But he says in July of this year, his son Tyler learned from a friend who works at the hospital that the cat was still alive and living with a veterinary technician.
The police report includes a statement from Jagt that says in early 2025, the purebred Ragdoll cat named Annie began to decline in health, and the family did not want her to suffer.
“She was no longer eating, no longer using her litter and she would wince when being touched. She was in pain from arthritis. We made the difficult decision to put her down,” read the report.
Jagt said he paid the nearly $300 to euthanize and cremate Annie and that he “didn’t have it in me to hold Annie while they euthanized her,” since he recently put down his dog.
He said the veterinarian told him “Don’t worry, we will handle it” and he left “thinking that was the end of it.”
In his statement, Jagt said he learned a veterinary technician took the cat into her care and “had the nerve to post a picture of her holding Annie in both her Facebook page but also on the Senoia Animal Hospital website.”
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He went on to say the employee frequently took Annie to the hospital since February 2025.
“She does not look good in the picture,” he said of the cat. “My family is very concerned that the vet is keeping her alive beyond reason to the detriment of the cat.”
The cat was euthanized on Aug. 13, according to the report.
Channel 2’s Bryan Mims went to the hospital to speak with someone about the case. One of the owners, who declined be interviewed, told Mims that the hospital refunded the family for the cost of euthanizing.
He said the veterinarian and technician made the decision to keep the cat alive and called it “a mistake made out of compassion,” saying the employees thought the animal did not warrant being euthanized.
Once brought to the attention of hospital management, he said, “it was corrected.”
He provided a written statement from the hospital that reads in part: “Our team’s intention throughout was to protect the cat’s life and well-being. We recognize, however, that we fell short in honoring the trust the family placed in us, and we have made every effort to make things right with the family. We take our clients’ trust very seriously have addressed the matter internally, and have reinforced our policies to ensure that our clients‘ decisions regarding their pets are always respected.”
The Jagts said the employee who informed the family that Annie was still alive was fired on the day the cat was euthanized. The hospital’s statement said that employee “was terminated for entirely different independent reasons unrelated to this incident. Senoia Hospital management had no knowledge of her involvement with this situation.”
Both Brian Jagt and his son, Tyler, declined to speak with Channel 2 Action News. The father told Mims that they’re satisfied with the hospital’s response and will not be pressing for charges or taking any other action.
Sandy Turpin said she has been taking her cats and dogs to the Senoia Animal Hospital for the past eight years.
“We’re very fond of them,” she said. “We’ve been very pleased with all the care we’ve gotten.”
But she said the decision to keep the cat alive, despite the family’s wishes, is a tough one.
“I’m very mixed on it,” she said. “I don’t ever want an animal to be put down unnecessarily, but I believe there are circumstances that require it for compassionate reasons.”
Jan Tumlin said it’s clear: The veterinary staff should have honored the family’s request from the start.
“I think that’s very unfair,” she said. “If the owner went and said they wanted to put the cat down, and it’s not up to the vet or the technician or whoever to sit there and say the cat shouldn’t be put down.”
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