Beloved pet ‘ mauled to death' at doggy daycare
A dog found dead and covered in bite wounds i s believed to have been mauled to death by other dogs while at a doggy daycare.
The Auckland Council is investigating the incident and the dog’s owners and the SPCA are calling for regulation of the industry.
Meanwhile, the owner of Valley Dog Daycare in West Auckland, where the incident happened, said she had closed her business permanently.
Bridget Chung and her husband, Mike, adopted Wilson, a 17- month- old huntaway- doberman cross, in 2016 when he was a puppy.
Wilson was “everything we wanted in a companion” — obedient, playful, friendly and affectionate, she said.
“We wanted to give him the happy, loving and safe home that he desperately needed.”
Chung and her husband had been sending Wilson to Valley Dog Daycare a few times a week for the past year.
But when her husband went to collect Wilson on Tuesday, the owner did not know where he was.
“My husband went to look for him, and found him dead in a pond on site. He was covered in bite wounds and puncture marks.”
Chung was in agony over “Willy” dying such a lonely death at a place she and her husband had chosen because they trusted he would be safe and well looked after.
“We are absolutely devastated. We trusted Valley Dogs to care for Willy, but something went badly wrong.
“We are doing everything we can to ascertain exactly what happened, and want to ensure that no other animal entrusted to a daycare facility has to endure what Wilson did.”
Valley Dog Daycare’s owner, Trudi Hewett, said she was so upset by the incident she would be closing the business she had run for 10 years and would never look after dogs again.
“I’ve closed the business completely and I will never reopen,” she said.
“Never, never, never open . . . this has just upset me so badly.” The two dogs involved had been at the daycare for six months together without incident and she had followed recommendations for doggy daycare owners, Hewett said. “I loved him like my own,” she said of Wilson. SPCA Auckland chief executive Andrea Midgen said doggy daycares were an unregulated industry, but operators must still comply with the Animal Welfare Act 1999. “We would like to see further regulations in all businesses that care for animals to ensure the animal welfare needs are always met,” she said. Doggy daycare was a good option for dog owners who work away from home, Midgen said, but owners should choose their facility carefully.