This was Lucy. She was our almost 2 year old family dog. On January 13th, 2019 while I was in…read morehospital welcoming my child into the world she died due to lack of care and attention while being boarded at Colombo's Kennel & Cattery (Duncan, Vancouver Island).
Lucy suffered incredibly due to what happened at the kennel. She suffered, and I never got to say goodbye, I love you or tell her I was sorry. We have a hole in our hearts and our home over this loss.
I trusted a well known local business to care for my dog and they horribly failed me, my family and my sweet dog. Nothing I can do can change what happened but my hope is this post and information may help prevent another loved pet from suffering the way my Lucy did. Please share this with everyone you know and tell your friends with pets about this.
I dropped Lucy off at Colombo's Kennel on Thursday Jan 10th just after 3 PM, she was excited and eagerly walked into the back with the staff member, that was the last time I saw her. On Saturday Jan 12th Lucy was put into her kennel, the staff locked up and left at 1PM. Nobody checked on her (or any of the other animals in the kennel) for 21 hours. 21 hours without a check to see if they had enough food, or had knocked over their water bowls, or to see if any of the animals required medical attention.
The staff got back to the kennel on Sunday Jan 13th at 10AM, I wasn't called until 11:13AM, over an hour after staff got there. When they called they told me she was in distress, had vomited and was bleeding from her rear, I immediately called my Mother to get her to the vet. Why it took them so long to call is beyond me, an animal was suffering and it took them over an hour to notify me so I could get her help. Lucy had vomited, had bloody diarrhea all over her kennel and was hunched over hiding in the back of the kennel when my Mother arrived there. My sweet Lucy suffered for who knows how long between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning because she wasn't checked on for 21 hours.
When Lucy was at the vet it was decided that emergency surgery was needed. Due to the severity of her condition caused by the length of time she went unattended and without care she didn't make it through the surgery as she had to be euthanized on the surgery table. I have been told had she been brought in earlier, when distress symptoms started to show she would have had a good chance of making it, with great difficulty but she would likely have been here today. I trust and fully believe that the vet clinic did everything in their power to save Lucy's life, and know that the information they have given me is correct.
When Lucy arrived at the vet clinic she was diagnosed with sever shock and a painful and distended abdomen. Lucy had ingested pieces of plywood, likely from the visibly chewed piece inside the kennel she was placed in. Lucy has a 4 inch gash inside of her stomach which had caused the contents of her stomach to leak into her abdomen. Shards of wood were found inside of her abdomen. She had severe bloating which could have come before or after the gash was created, we will never be able to determine which came first but the 21 hours she was left unattended would have been detrimental in either situation. Unfortunately the leakage of her stomach contents caused sever detrimental changes to her stomach and the prognosis was grave, resulting in her having to be euthanized during the surgery.
I had no clue when I dropped Lucy off at Colombo's Kennel that she would be unattended for that long, and that it was in fact their common practice to leave peoples pets alone for an absurd amount of time without anyone checking in for lack of food or water or to check for signs of distress. I like many assumed I was trusting a reputable business that would care for my dog when I was unable to because I was paying them to do so. I blame myself for not asking the right questions and for not fully understanding that these excessive time frames were standard to Colombo's Kennel. Lucy had been there 2 times before with no issues, and I feel horrible for not knowing she was possibly left alone for so long those times. Unfortunately this last time the excessive amount of time she was left unattended resulted in her death. I started going to Colombo's Kennel at the recommendation of someone else, and unfortunately didn't ask enough questions, and all the information wasn't given to me by the kennel on how my pet would be cared for (I NEVER would have trusted my pet to somewhere that leaves animals unattended for 21 hours, and would wait over an hour notify a pet owner of an obviously serious issue that clearly required immediate medical attention).
I will never kennel another animal again due to this incident (anywhere) and I would highly recommend nobody take their animals to Colombo's Kennel.
Please learn from our tragic loss and ask questions, ask a lot of questions anytime you consider leaving your pets at a kennel.
