TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) — Benji, a Yorkshire Terrier, was a godsend to Monica Crogan.
Crogan, a 57-year-old resident of the Tuscarora Indian Nation near Tonawanda, New York, adopted Benji in the summer of 2023 as a support dog to ease her anxiety and depression. Benji’s energetic and social personality delighted Crogan and her grandchildren.
“He makes me feel like I can get through the day,” Crogan said.
A year later, on July 17, 2024, Benji went missing, sending Crogan into a panic.
What happened in the next few months is a series of events described by those involved as one of the craziest, stranger-than-fiction stories of a year-long investigation involving a missing pet.
News 4 Investigates of Nexstar’s WIVB obtained bodycam footage of interviews and police documents that accused local veterinarian Kimberly Parkhill of going to great lengths to change the identity of the dog.
One of the interviews with a whistleblower who worked with Parkhill at McBride Animal Hospital told police that Parkhill allegedly explained that she did not want Benji returned to Crogan because “dogs on the reservation are not vetted and are able to run free.”
The whistleblower said she noticed changes to clinic logs that changed Benji’s sex, breed, and name, according to an interview last year with City of Tonawanda Police and Jonathan Bondi, a senior investigator with the Niagara Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). She also claimed medical records showed the clinic listed the surgery as a spay, when it should have been a neuter, and removed the microchip.
“I stood there with my jaw open, like, is this really happening?” the whistleblower told investigators. “This is unethical. Like, I can’t believe I’m watching this.”
Crogan did get Benji back, but the case is far from over.
Sixteen months after Benji disappeared, the City of Tonawanda Police Department charged Parkhill with six crimes, including two felony counts of falsifying business records and three misdemeanor counts of making false entries. Parkhill will be arraigned on Sept. 30.
In addition, Crogan and her husband, Frederick, who is Native American, filed a civil lawsuit in Niagara County Supreme Court against Parkhill and others. They demanded $1 million in damages for wrongfully taking property, emotional distress, discrimination, and defamation.
In court documents, Parkhill’s civil attorney, Kenny Liptak, denied the allegations. Liptak said the defamation claim is “spurious and meritless,” and accused Crogan of trying to harm Parkhill’s reputation.
“It’s bizarre, to be honest,” said Matt Albert, Crogan’s attorney. “I didn’t believe this to be true when I first heard about it.”
Parkhill, a respected veterinarian, whose license is active until February 2027, did not respond to a half-dozen attempts by News 4 Investigates to get her side of the story. She no longer works at McBride Animal Hospital.
“In light of pending litigation, we have no comment,” said Barry Covert, Parkhill’s attorney for the criminal case.
The allegations came as a shock to some people who had knowledge of Parkhill’s work and Benji’s case.
Parkhill, who has 19 years of experience and a degree from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, provided animal care to several rescue agencies, one of which described her as one of the more knowledgeable veterinarians.
Customers equally appreciated the care she provided for their pets and wondered why she was no longer working at McBride. Parkhill’s LinkedIn page states she is a freelance veterinarian.
“She is by far my favorite vet!” a customer posted on NextDoor. “Where did she go??”
The day Benji disappeared
Crogan said she was busy with chores when the microchip company called to inform her that Benji was 13 miles away at McBride Animal Hospital in the City of Tonawanda.
Even though the microchip identified Crogan as the owner, she said an employee at McBride told her she had to bring proof of ownership. By the time Crogan gathered her documents, she said the clinic told her the person who brought Benji in had already left with the dog.
On July 18, 2024, Crogan reported her missing dog to the City of Tonawanda Police Department.
Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. Crogan could not get Benji back.
“Oh, it was horrible,” Crogan said. “I was sick.”
Crogan followed through with what most people do when their pets go missing: She posted on social media seeking help to find Benji.
But that effort did not go as planned.
Break in the case
Albert, the civil attorney for Crogan, said this was a “stranger than fiction” story that led to online abuse of Crogan whenever she sought help finding her dog.
Crogan’s posts on Facebook accused the clinic of giving her dog away. People called her crazy or accused her of lying.
Albert accused Parkhill of contacting at least one Facebook page administrator to remove Crogan’s posts. The message, which the lawsuit alleged Parkhill sent, states Crogan accused the animal hospital of stealing her dog.
“Allowing this post on your page slanders our clinic,” the message reads. “It also opens our clinic, and my staff to harassment, as well as libel and defamation on the part of Ms. Crogan. We do not have her dog, nor did we steal it. She knows this.”
Investigators got their break in the case on Nov. 16 when Paul Harper, the animal hospital’s owner, and his attorney, Mark Uba, met with City of Tonawanda police to disclose the latest information gleaned from a whistleblower who worked with Parkhill.
“Parkhill made the decision to have Crogan contacted and informed that the dog’s location was unknown after the person bringing the dog to McBride left with the dog,” Officer Carl Lockhart wrote in his police report. “Parkhill intentionally allowed [the customer] to leave with Crogan’s dog because Parkhill did not want the dog to return to its home on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation.”
On Nov. 23, law enforcement, including SPCA investigator Bondi, interviewed the whistleblower at her house. WIVB is not naming the whistleblower to protect her identity. She did not return messages seeking comment.
Her written statement and interview with law enforcement, recorded on bodycam, offers insight into how the case unfolded.
It began when the whistleblower said she noticed an appointment for a dog lost in the woods. Later that afternoon, a woman and her 20-year-old grandson brought the dog to McBride.
According to the whistleblower, Parkhill instructed staff to quickly process the bill for the individuals with Benji.
The whistleblower said the dog came back to the clinic for surgery, but she overheard Parkhill ask a colleague to change the reason for the appointment to say the dog was “itchy.”
The dog returned for another surgery, the whistleblower said. That is when she learned of changes in the clinic’s logs, including the removal of Benji’s microchip.
“The dog went from a female to a male, to Bianca to Buddy, is the dog’s name that we had in the computer,” the whistleblower said.
“It was put under as a spay,” she said. “It should have been put in as a neuter, as he was a male.”
The whistleblower asked Parkhill about the microchip. She said Parkhill told her, “No one will find this dog as the microchip was removed and flushed down the toilet…”
Parker told police he did not know of these allegations until the whistleblower came forward.
“Doctor Harper and the hospital’s administration had no knowledge whatsoever about these matters and were deeply shocked when the allegations came to light,” Uba said in a prepared statement. “The hospital does not tolerate the types of conduct alleged here and has taken all appropriate measures.”
The whistleblower said there are texts between her and Parkhill, in which Parkhill stated, “they do not treat the dogs right on the rez [sic]. They just run around out there,” along with pictures of dogs from Crogan’s Facebook page. The whistleblower did not talk about what the pictures showed.
But there are cultural differences on Native American territories that others might find concerning. The Tuscarora Indian Nation does not have leash laws so dogs can roam free.
Nonresidents have brought roaming dogs from the territory to the SPCA, but the agency does not have authority on Native American territories.
Niagara SPCA records stated someone previously dropped off a roaming German Sheppard owned by the Corgans. The report stated there was a disagreement with Frederick Crogan that resulted in a temporary ban from SPCA property.
The Niagara SPCA treated the dog and returned him to the Crogans without incident.
Bondi, during an interview with News 4 Investigates, shot down concerns that residents of the Tuscarora Indian Nation do not treat their dogs well. He said Crogan had veterinarian records for Benji, and he saw no signs of abuse or neglect.
“This dog was happy, healthy, young, had vaccinations, records of this, which they kept, and had a microchip that was registered to them,” Bondi said. “And most animals I deal with in all parts of Niagara County don’t even have that.”
Bondi said the City of Tonawanda police contacted him after the whistleblower came forward with new allegations. Police obtained close to 100 pages of change logs from McBride Animal Hospital that they confirmed the clinic replaced the microchip and changed Benji’s name, sex, and breed.
“It seems like they went to great lengths to change the identity of the dog,” Bondi said. “I’ve never heard of something like this occurring.”
The week of Thanksgiving 2024, police searched the home of the woman who initially brought Benji to the vet’s office and seized the dog.
Bondi said the woman’s grandson told him, “I’m the mother—— that picked it up off the g—— street on the f—— rez.” Police charged both the grandmother and her grandson with petit larceny.
“Until Nov. 24, I thought I didn’t have a dog anymore,” Crogan said. “I thought it was gone.”
The Reunion
Crogan reunited with Benji in January, which ended months of her frantic effort to find him.
“Based on the circumstances, people had made her out to be crazy and things like that, so when we showed up on her doorstep saying ‘Hey, do you want your dog back?’ she broke down crying,” Bondi said.
“This dog genuinely loved its owner,” he said.
Crogan said her depression and anxiety came back with force during the period of Benji’s disappearance. The incident ruined her summer. She lay in bed most days. She took criticism online.
Crogan said she was speechless when police returned Benji. She said she was flooded with memories of how Benji sensed her emotional pain and his remarkable ability to provide comfort. She took Benji on vacation to Massena, New York, and Canada.
And more importantly, Crogan felt happy again.
“He’s just such a security, Crogan said. “I love him.”
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