An Illinois couple is demanding answers days after they say animal control mistakenly euthanized their 6-year-old dog.

Fox News reported that it was August 3 when a maintenance worker made an unannounced visit to Tony and Jennifer Wang’s backyard. Upon entering the backyard, Tony said Moses, his Labrador and shepherd mix, became startled and bit the worker.

Jennifer claimed they took the worker to get treatment and proactively called Tazewell County Animal Control, as they knew they would be contacted about the incident. According to WMBD, the pair were told to take their dog to animal control and they obliged.

“They said that they would like to keep him for 10 days under quarantine to make sure that everything was safe with him,” Jennifer told the news station.

Jennifer also told Fox News that she expressed concern that Moses would be mixed up with another canine there. She claims staff “assured [her] that Moses would be OK.” Tony worked minutes away from animal control and visited Moses during his work break, bringing him treats.

In hindsight, however, Jennifer’s concerns appear to have been valid.

The couple was horrified to learn from an animal control employee Thursday afternoon that Moses was reportedly mistaken for another dog and euthanized.

“I asked him why did you still euthanize him?” Tony recalled. “He told me he was not thinking, he said he didn’t verify, he just went ahead and did it.”

The couple claimed Moses was put down with a “heart stick” rather than an injection in his leg, leading Jennifer to accuse staff of treating their dog like a “wild animal that nobody cared about.”

They also told Fox News that some of the dogs at animal control had papers on their crates which identified them. They alleged that Moses wasn’t one of those dogs.

Still reeling from losing their beloved dog, the Wangs said they’ve reached out to lawyers and are exploring their options. Tony went on to reveal that their son cried himself Thursday night, asking to “go to heaven so he could see Moses.”

Tazewell County Animal Control issued the following statement to WMBD:

“On August 7th, Tazewell County Animal Control mistakenly euthanized a dog that was being held in our facility on a 10-day bite quarantine. Tazewell County truly regrets this error. Tazewell County will be reviewing policies and procedures to prevent any such occurrence from happening in the future.”

[Featured image: Moses/WMBD]