DOGS KILLED AT KENNEL
Tiny pets left with bigger animal
Leonard and Naudia Sztym say they were blindsided by news two of their beloved dogs had died while in the care of a Red Deer kennel.
At first, Naudia said, she thought Dark Horses Home Watch and Pet Care owner Dale Layton was trying to tell them Jasper, a five-year-old Pomeranian, and Casey, a six-yearold Biewer, had run away.
“We got in and she took us into her office right away and said, ‘We lost Jasper and Casey,’ ” Naudia said. “We thought they ran away. She said, ‘No, we lost them. They’re at (an emergency animal clinic), and they’re dead.’ ”
Naudia was overcome with emotion while recalling the conversation.
Layton said looking the Sztyms in the eye and telling them what happened was devastating.
“(It was) definitely the worst thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Layton said, adding she doesn’t know what went wrong.
Wednesday and Thursday went fine. Friday started off much the same.
Layton said she was only gone for a couple of minutes to answer the door and was walking back into the open play area where the dogs were housed. She heard nothing indicating there was a problem.
She said she then saw a larger dog nosing a motionless Casey. Jasper was also down and motionless.
Jasper was dead. Casey still had a heartbeat.
“The other dog had been here before — probably over half a dozen times,” Layton said. “I hadn’t had issues with her before.
“If I had even a fraction of thought that their dogs were in any danger I certainly wouldn’t have left them in that situation.”
Weeks before taking last week’s trip to Banff, the Sztyms started dealing with Dark Horses, including a day stay to try the place out. They said nothing seemed wrong then, but also that they were assured their dogs wouldn’t be placed with bigger dogs.
“If she’d said she was going to mingle these little dogs with the big ones, we would never have taken them there,” Naudia said.
Unhurt in the incident was the Sztyms’ third dog, Willow, a 10-year-old Pomeranian and rat terrier cross.
“She’ll sit there and stare down the hallways looking for them … or just stares at me,” Leonard said.
The Alberta SPCA is now investigating the incident.
“It’s unclear at this point if this situation would fall under the Animal Protection Act,” said Roland Lines, spokesman for the SPCA.
“It may be something that would be better handled by either a civil claim or potentially a criminal claim.
“Our officer is investigating to find out if the Animal Protection Act would apply.”
There’s been no indication so far that the bigger dog believed to have killed Jasper and Casey will be ordered to be put down.