I have two dogs, so when I'm going to be away for more than 8-12 hours, I have to find some way to make sure they'll be taken care of.
Thankfully, I can usually conscript a family member to help, but at some point, I'm probably going to have to trust a kennel to take care of my boys.
No matter how much you research a kennel's reputation and check their licenses, leaving your dog in the care of strangers is going to cause anxiety — and sadly, this story about Kirsten Kinch and her dog Nova isn't going to change that for anyone.
This meant that for the first time, her husky Nova would need to be placed in a kennel for three days.
To add extra anxiety to the situation, Nova had been suffering from colitis and required regular doses of steroids to manage the condition.
In her Facebook post about the incident, Kirsten explained:
"I gave multiple written and verbal instructions on how the steroid was to be given separately to her food and that she needs to get this twice a day."
She also repeated the post as a negative review on the kennel's Facebook page.
When Kirsten and her mum arrived at the kennel and said which dog they were there to pick-up, they were asked to come around to the back gate.
This is honestly every pet parent's worst nightmare. I don't even want to imagine how she must have felt.
"I was then brought in to see my gorgeous dog who had been wrapped in what I can only describe as a ball in a black bag which was covered in masking tape."
The kennel said that all medication had been given as instructed, so Kirsten rushed to the vet, who was shocked at what had occurred.
Scanning for a microchip confirmed that the body was indeed Nova.
She says that she never received any responses to her messages or emails. In an interview with Metro after the story went viral, owner Paddy Cullen said they had no record of her attempts to contact them.
In the days after Kirsten's review was posted, the review section of the kennel's page was taken down.
Parvo is a highly infectious virus that causes symptoms such as bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Dogs who contract it can die in as little as 72 hours.
However, that could also be a symptom of many other conditions.
Colitis is an inflammation of the colon and can be exacerbated by stressful situations, which staying in a kennel can be for a dog.
In a follow-up post, she confirmed that the vet found no signs of parvo when investigating Nova's cause of death, which was deemed to be internal bleeding.
Nova was also up to date with her vaccinations and besides the colitis, had a clean bill of health.
P&E Boarding Kennels and Cattery has since been shut down, though I couldn't find any confirmation on whether it was forced or voluntary.
This is a difficult situation. If Nova died contracting something from another dog, the kennel wouldn't be at fault.
However, if she died because her medication wasn't correctly administered, how can others trust their dogs in this kennel's care?
There's no way to know if Nova's sudden death could have been prevented by the kennel's staff or if it was due to their negligence.
All you can do is aggressively research every potential place you may be considering leaving your furbaby with while you're away.
