Neglect (leading to death)
Nokomis couple whose dog died after boarding stay tells story
February 05, 2016
BRADENTON -- A couple who says their dog died while in the care of pet sitters hopes their story will save other dogs.
Linda and Jim Dwyer of Nokomis recently left their two dogs, K'lah and Gracie, in the care of Peter Pam's Puppies Pet Sitting and Boarding in Bradenton. The couple boarded their dogs because they were going on a cruise.
Upon their return, the Dwyers were informed that K'lah had died after being attacked by two larger dogs at the pet sitter.
The Dwyers insist they researched Peter Pam's Puppies Pet Sitting thoroughly. They say they were also told that K'lah and Gracie would not be near any larger dogs.
“I thought the person we left them with had a real good knowledge of dogs and behavior,” Linda Dwyer said. “Obviously, if she put our two little dogs with two 90-pound dogs, you’re asking for trouble.”
According to Don Pinaud, an attorney representing the owners of Peter Pam's, the owner feels the Dwyers' loss but disputes some of their claims about what happened.
“Obviously, they lost their dog, and [the owners] are very sorry,” Pinaud said. “It was a sad situation, and they’re very sad it happened.”
Pinaud said the owner told the Dwyers she watches both larger and smaller dogs interact together.
According to Pinaud, for the first four days of K'lah and Gracie's stay, everything went fine. Then, a larger dog bit K'lah once. K'lah was taken to an emergency pet clinic for care, and it was there that a Dwyer family member decided it would be best that K'lah be put down.
The Dwyers plan to take no legal action against Peter Pam's Puppies Pet Sitting.
Their other dog, Gracie, was not injured during her stay.
Illegal doggy daycare closed in Bradenton
Feb 10, 2016
Code enforcement has shut down an illegal doggy daycare run out of a Bradenton home.
A 90-pound dog killed a 6-pound terrier on Jan. 30 at Peter Pam's Sitting and Boarding in Bradenton.
“Go away, she said, she’s in pain,” a friend of Pamela Morgan said.
Manatee County issued Morgan a notice of violation Wednesday for running a kennel out of her home in a residential area. One website she used to advertise, DogVacay.com, removed Morgan as well.
"It's a remedy for destruction really," neighbor Aaron Cornelius said.
Cornelius said he has always known the business was in his neighborhood. He said noisy dogs are often a problem. He heard about the small dog mauled to death right across the street from him.
"It was surprising but then it wasn't, you know? I was expecting something to happen. It was just a matter of time," Cornelius said.
Code enforcement said to have a dog daycare, you need to be zoned for that type of business. That's one question the owner of Petville in Citrus Park said you should ask before using a facility.
"You want to ask to do a tour, you want to definitely check out the facility," Victoria Dibbs said.
Dibbs said you need to make sure large and small dogs are separated, something that didn't happen at Morgan's house.
"That could have easily been prevented not just for the biting but also trampling over the pet. A smaller pet is much more fragile," Dibbs said.
Find out what experience, licensing and insurance any business has and make sure your pet is vaccinated, along with others in the facility.
With Internet ads, it's more important than ever to do your homework. Code enforcement said they don't usually know a home dog daycare exists until neighbors complain.
Pet sitting business in Bradenton shut down after dog death
Feb 11, 2016
BRADENTON - A pet sitting business in Bradenton has been shut down.
Peter Pam's Pet Sitting has been served with a cease and desist order by Manatee County Code Enforcement officers.
The shut down comes after a family's dog was attached by a bigger dog at Peter Pam's last month.
The dog later died.
The county has given the business until Monday to take its advertisements off the internet.
Linda and Jim Dwyer of Nokomis never expected anything to happen to their small dog K'Lah when they dropped her off at Peter Pam's Pet Sitting service in Bradenton.
They had used the service a few times before with no issue, but this time was different.
"I lost my baby," said Linda Dwyer. "She was such a big part of our lives and our kids are grown up and gone, so we dote on them."
"I feel that we've been cheated," said her husband Jim Dwyer.
"Cheated" because their 4-year old tri-colored Yorkie K'Lah was attacked by a much larger dog also under the care of the pet sitter.
"It brought me to my knees," said Linda of the moment she heard the news. "My dog is dead? What do you mean my dog is dead? How could that be? How could that even be?"
According to the medical report, when K'Lah arrived at the vet she had "severe trauma to the abdomen" and "contaminated wounds." The report also indicates that K'Lah was unstable and likely would not survive anesthesia, let alone surgery. With that information, the Dwyers' daughter made the decision to put K'Lah down.
The Dwyers say they were told the larger dogs wouldn't be mixed with smaller dogs and say they wouldn't have left their dogs in the sitter's care had they known.
"It was clear in my mind that they were separate," said Jim Dwyer. "There was some division line saying, "You're a big dog you're out here. You're not a big dog you're in here.""
The owner of Peter Pam's, Pam Morgan, told us over the phone that the Dwyers were well aware, referencing her website, which shows pictures of larger and smaller dogs together.
Morgan didn't want to go on camera, but in a statement, her attorney expressed sympathy adding: "After carefully watching the dogs at issue for four days and observing no red flags to suggest the larger dog would attack this or any dog, Ms. Morgan was as surprised and upset as the owner to see that the large dog attacked the smaller one. Animals are unpredictable and we are very sorry this event occurred."
