Isn’t that a bit redundant?
Not if gatopescado is Italian. 
So what’s happened?? We must know!
I don’t know what’s going on at the moment, as I haven’t been at work since Tuesday. (It’s my weekend, doncha know.) The last I knew, they were going through all the files for the last month, trying to find another dead Poochie roughly the same size, so they could figure out who might have gotten this particular corpse. Our best guess at this point is that the owner of the hypothetical Poochie #2 told us they wanted group cremation and then changed their minds but didn’t tell us. I considered the possibility that it was a private cremation, and the guy got confused as to what, exactly, he was supposed to pick up and where (privates get picked up at the crematorium), but there are no private cremations of any similar names waiting for pickup. Besides, the owner would have called to bitch us out if she’d been expecting ashes and got a corpse.
I could call the clinic and ask, but to tell the truth, I’m almost afraid to find out.
Well, well, well. Mystery solved, but my god what a ballsup. Evidently, whoever told me that our other death that night (you know, the one that was 50# heavier and male?) had been picked up was mistaken. The crematorium guy noticed today that he was still there and asked about it, so we called the owners. Their dad came and picked up Poochie. Evidently, dad’s a bit slow on the uptake, not noticing that at 18" long and 20# the box was remarkably small and light for a full-grown yellow lab, but apparently our receptionists are utter morons because none of them seem to have bothered to ask for the name of the pet in question.
They couldn’t possibly have asked for names, because the two names were nothing alike. When the man called and said his daughter was at the beach and he was picking up her dog for burial, the nighttime receptionist must have just assumed he meant Poochie. (Because, of course, no other families would be at the beach on July 4th weekend :rolleyes: ) When he came in that morning, he must have just said he was here for his daughter’s dog, and the morning chick didn’t bother to ask for a name there, either. Jesus, I wouldn’t want to be in either of their shoes when the clinic owner comes in tomorrow. If I were him, I’d absolutely tear their asses up, because there is no excuse whatsoever for that kind of incompetence. The one who made the original mistake is working tomorrow night, so I guess I’ll see how bad the fallout is then.
Boy, I was feeling a little down about my job this morning. Y’know, typical Monday blahs combined with wanting to move up in the world. But at least I’m not going to be around a shitstorm like what’s going to break out in your office!
I’m a little bummed that neither of the phrases “alien bodysnatchers” or “odd satanic cult” appeared in your explanation of what happened, though…
So did they get their dog back?
I second that. Who knew that vet clinic life was so full and rich?
At the risk of spoiling it, it’s an old SDMB joke, involving a very um, colourful character (long since banned) and a thread about last messages at funerals.
The clinic owner was going to call her today, so I guess all that will be resolved by the time I go in tonight, too. We knocked $500 off her bill over all this mess, so my understanding is that he’s going to offer her the choice between leaving things as they stand, or us obtaining the body for her and her paying us the $500.
I really hope she chooses the first option, for a lot of reasons. Firstly, we’re talking about digging up a dog that’s been buried for two weeks. In July. In North Carolina. That’s going to be mighty unpleasant for whoever has to dig it up. It’s also going to be awfully smelly for the owner, and I can’t imagine that it would make her feel a speck better to see/smell her dog like that. Besides, this other family has already had a ceremony over that grave with their small children. I’d think it would be pretty traumatic for the kids to know that their funereal was over some other dog’s body, and I can’t imagine how you’d hide the exhumation from them.
Thunderation, I’m a '99er, & I don’t remember that one. 
I think maybe they’re talking about Wildest Bill. I dunno, it might have been some other troll.
BAND NAME!
Yep, it was Wildest Bill, all right.