A MOURNING pet owner claims her beloved rabbit could still be alive had it not been "dropped" by a vet.

Lisa Haywood's two-year-old French Lop House Bunny, called Blue, died after failing to wake up from anaesthetic during an operation.

She believes the injuries Blue needed to have the operation were caused by a vet that dropped him back in November at the Benfleet Veterinary Surgery.

The surgery says no official complaints have been recieved and said it did not believe the rabbit's death was linked to the incident.

Blue suffered a wound to his foot after he was dropped and continued to suffer with problems as a result of the injury. 

This led to the decision to operate at another practice, but sadly due to the high risk nature of it, Blue died during the procedure.

Lisa, who is from Benfleet, said: “I completely freaked out when he was dropped, as Blue was on the floor shaking.

"The images in my head still haunt me, and I was saying beforehand, I told you not to pick him up, I couldn’t believe it.

“After the incident in the vets, Blue was leaving a trail of blood from his foot across the floor. 

"The vet then super glued it, I paid the charges in a panic, and then took him home to his safe place to get him to calm down.

“Over the months, he wasn’t the same, he was off his food, his toilet wasn’t right, but I couldn’t see anything wrong as he is very furry."

Lisa rushed Blue to an emergency vets in Pitsea last week after the rabbit started leaving trails of blood around her house. 

They found damage to a bone in his foot and soft tissue damage which meant an operation was needed. 

Lisa was left with little choice but to accept the treatment, and admits she and her family are still coming to terms with Blue's death. 

She added: “If he wasn’t dropped, he would still be with us today.

"It is my youngest daughter's rabbit and we are all absolutely devastated.”

Lisa says she is yet to make a complaint to the Benfleet Veterinary Surgery as she says she is “finalising, collecting and building her evidence together to prove her claim”.

A spokesman for the surgery has urged Lisa to get in touch to discuss her concerns.

He said: “We are surprised and very saddened to hear of this as we have not received a formal complaint from this client.

“As we were under COVID-19 restrictions at the time, the owner could not come into the consultation room to handle Blue.

“The vet picked up Blue, however Blue struggled and jumped from his hands and landed awkwardly.

“There was a cut on the leg which was treated at the time. There were no other apparent injuries, and Blue was discharged that day.

“We cannot comment on subsequent treatment or diagnosis as this took place at another practice.

“We do not believe that this incident is linked to Blue's death, however, our clients have the right to raise such concerns with us, and we would advise Miss Haywood to contact us directly to make a formal complaint and we can proceed accordingly.”