Chloe the Mini Frenchie, the New York City dog beloved by over 180,000 fans on Instagram, died Wednesday afternoon following a medical procedure, her owners said.
Loni Edwards was in tears on Thursday when she recounted what happened. She and her boyfriend, Phil Toronto, took Chloe to a veterinary office for a routine soft palate surgery, which she said the dog went through without any problems. But when they took Chloe to BluePearl animal hospital in Chelsea for an overnight observation, one of the vets incubated her and gave too much oxygen, according to Edwards.
“They didn’t calibrate [the oxygen tank] and it killed her,” she said. “This wasn’t a complication or risk of the surgery. It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
In an Instagram post on Chloe’s page, the couple said the oxygen blew out Chloe’s lungs, and caused her to suffer multiple cardiac arrests before she died.
“She fought so hard to stay with us, but the fatal error was simply too much for our little nugget to overcome,” the post said.
A spokeswoman for the hospital confirmed Chloe’s death was caused by a “medical error that shouldn’t have happened.”
“We are conducting a review and will be taking immediate steps to ensure nothing like this ever again occurs at one of our hospitals,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
Chloe’s fans expressed their sorrow on her Instagram page.
“Oh my goodnes (sic)! So incredibly sad! I am so deeply sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you,” user scbuerger posted.
Edwards said she and her boyfriend are appreciative of the support.
“Seeing how happy she made everyone is helping us get through it. There were so many great memories,” she said.
