West Van woman looking for dead daughter’s dog
Amora Berenjian was 18 when she died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in West Vancouver last year. She died at home, with her dog Ceely by her side. Her mother found her daughter in bed on the morning of Oct. 8, and saw she wasn’t breathing.
“She dies again every day. Every morning I wake up and she dies again,” said Holly Wood, a West Vancouver real estate agent. The loss has been horrific, said Wood.
Now the grieving mother is on a desperate hunt to find the only thing that gave her comfort and healing after her daughter’s death: Amora’s dog Ceely.
Wood separated from Amora’s father, Adel Berenjian, in 2006 and, although their relationship was tumultuous, the pair agreed to share custody of Ceely after their daughter’s death so both could be comforted.
However, Wood said that a few weeks later the arrangement soured when Berenjian refused to return the dog to her as agreed after a visit to the Ambleside dog park.
According to Wood, the encounter was distressing. “He said I had murdered my daughter, and that he was taking the dog under Shariah law.”
Police were called, and Wood was advised that custody of the dog, which is considered property, was a civil matter and she would have to prove the dog was hers.
Wood was distraught and, after personal appeals to Berenjian failed, she went to court and got the necessary paperwork. As executor of Amora’s estate, Wood is responsible for her assets, including the dog.
But it was too late. Wood said her ex-husband had spirited the dog out of the country to Los Angeles. When he returned to Canada, he told Wood he had “donated the dog.”
In a Supreme Court affidavit, Berenjian admits that on Jan. 21, 2018, while in Los Angeles, he “gave Ceely to a husband and wife” he had met by chance because “they were looking for a dog to surprise their children with.”
He provided no valid contact information for the couple.
Wood believes the story isn’t true, and that the dog is being hidden in plain sight on the streets, living among members of L.A.’s homeless population, and may not be safe.
Wood has travelled to Los Angeles four times this year looking for Ceely.
She has plastered the city with posters, used Craigslist and social media, and although she hasn’t found Ceely yet, she said there have been recent, credible sightings in L.A.’s Koreatown.
“The dog was the only thing I had of my daughter’s, the only thing I had to help me heal,” said Wood. “I want to bring her home.”
Postmedia reached out to Adel Berenjian for comment and, after repeated email exchanges, Berenjian declined to answer any questions about the incident or give reasons for not returning the dog to Wood.
Wood is also upset that West Vancouver police cannot access her daughter’s phone for information on who she was in contact with before her death. She said Apple’s privacy regulations prevent that.
“My daughter was a victim of the opioid crisis,” said Wood, who described Amora as happy, loving, and college-bound, but “young and naive.”
“Someone gave her pure fentanyl. The coroner said it was such a lethal dose she fell face first in her bed, she couldn’t have survived.
“There is still someone out there distributing fentanyl to West Vancouver children.”
Wood will be walking in honour of Amora and Ceely at this Sunday’s Paws for a Cause SPCA fundraiser. She is urging anyone with any information to leave a tip at pawboost.com, or facebook.com/hollywoodvancouver.
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