I know its a risk when your dog gets any operation dealing with anesthesia. but I took my dog to get a piece of his tail removed I dropped him off at 10:30 and by 11:30 she was calling me to tell me he had died. Its less the a 1 percent chance your dog should die under anesthesia risk are higher with older dogs or dogs that have a pre existing health problem. my dog was 5 and in very good shape and never had any health issues. So I'm convinced it could have been prevented. My biggest regret now is not switching to another vet.