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Service dog lost after water main break in summer died from asphyxiation, owner says
Rose Romero stands outside her Northeast Albuquerque home with Ivy, her late black Lab and service dog, in an undated photo. A bill passed the House on Thursday that would require first responders to make a “reasonable effort” to search for a qualified service animal during an emergency.
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A Northeast Albuquerque woman recently got some closure about her service dog, who was found dead after a weekslong search during the summer.
Rose Romero said necropsy results showed her beloved Ivy, a 14-year-old black Lab, died from asphyxiation after a water main break took place outside her house that caused a gas leak.
“She died instantly,” Romero said.
While the pain remains, she said the knowledge that her dog died quickly “made me calm down.”
Romero, 70 and visually impaired, called the Journal with the news because, she said, “the community wants to know what happened.”
A memorial is being planned for Ivy. No date has been announced.
Ivy was found a couple of weeks after Romero’s home, near Montgomery and Morris, was destroyed by a water main break on July 28.
Learning about the cause of death, she said, “puts me at ease,” but “it gives me more energy to go forward to make sure it doesn’t happen to someone else.
Romero said she was frustrated with how the city searched for Ivy.
Albuquerque Fire Rescue spokesman Lt. Jason Fejer said in August that AFR went back to Romero’s house multiple times to see if the then-missing dog was in the garage.
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It wasn’t enough for Romero.
“I kept telling them, if she wasn’t in the bedroom, she was in the garage. And they didn’t listen,” she said.
Romero said she and other residents want to enact what they hope to call Ivy’s Law, which would ensure animals get the same rescue efforts humans would during an emergency.
Pets are considered private property, according to state statute.
“People are angry,” Romero said on Sunday afternoon. “People are not happy with what happened. It could have happened to them.”
Romero said she is renting an Airbnb near her house that the city is paying for. She said the city told her they are waiting to see whether they can fix her home or have it demolished then rebuilt.
She may have another service dog by the time she moves into that new home. Romero said she recently started the process that could take months.
“I don’t know when anything will happen,” she said. “It’s all up in the air.”
