Vet ran an X-ray on her critically ill rescue dog — and uncovered a shelter paperwork mistake that nearly killed the pet and led to a $7,000 surgery
When a Henderson dog owner noticed their adopted pet had fallen sick and wouldn't eat, a visit to the vet revealed a shocking truth about its past. Sandra Broadway, who adopted her Husky, Faith, four years ago, discovered that a paperwork mishap nearly cost her beloved pet's life and more than $7,000 in surgery bills.
Sandra noticed that her blue-eyed Husky mix, Faith, fell sick on October 30, 2025. Within 24 hours, the dog went from refusing to eat to not moving. "She was lying [sic] there out on the ground and all these flies were all over her," Broadway told Fox5 on Thursday, November 13, 2025. The canine was taken to the vet, where an X-ray was taken. It was revealed that the dog required an emergency surgery; however, when the veterinarians revealed the next truth, Broadway was devastated.
The X-rays showed that Faith, who was adopted four years ago, was never spayed despite the paperwork indicating that the procedure had already been carried out. The vets also revealed that the life-threatening medical emergency wouldn't have been required if the dog had been spayed earlier. "They came out and they were like, she's not spayed, you said she's spayed." She added, "They brought up X-rays and said, 'No… These are two ovaries right here that are extremely swollen,' and somewhere in this mess is what he said is her uterus."
Broadway took Faith into her care a year and a half ago after her daughter’s friend left for military deployment. The original adoption documents from The Animal Foundation, from October 2021, listed Faith as spayed multiple times. "Everything I had, says spayed. You wouldn't think anything different. She's never had any sort of heat cycles or anything else that would have told us she wasn't spayed, and everything matched the paperwork," Broadway shared.
The dog owner was given the ultimatum to choose between $5,000 worth of emergency surgery or to euthanize Faith. Broadway, who didn't have the heart to put down her dog, went ahead with the surgery, and luckily, her dog is recovering currently. Unfortunately, the medical expenses exceeded $7,000, as Broadway lamented her frustration over the paperwork mishap. "How many more are out there? We trust those people to have done the right thing... My dog is going through all sorts of pain." The Animal Foundation quickly responded and issued an apology over the paperwork error.
"In 2021, the dog was mistakenly marked as spayed in our system, and this was not verified before the animal left our care. We are deeply sorry for our mistake and for the pain Sandra and her family went through. We're happy the dog is recovering at home, and to help make things right, we are offering to cover the cost of the dog's medical care," they shared the statement with the outlet. A report by Sahara Pines Animal Hospital has noted that unspayed female dogs are at high risk of getting Pyometra, an infection caused in the uterus. The report also states that not spaying can also lead to the development of mammary and testicular cancer in certain cases.