As an animal lover I consider my dogs as part of the family. And I am pretty sure we all threat our pets like they are our children. So losing our beloved pet is as heartbreaking as it can not be described by words.
Maybe this is the reason we are so careful when it comes to choose the right person to take care for them while we’re on holiday. Sitters and boarding kennels and catteries might make tens of thousands of dollars every year, but owners are willing to shell out for the piece of mind that their baby is having their own little, happy vacation.
Unfortunately for this Irish woman, her dog Nova’s first ever kennel doesn’t have a happy ending. Kirsten Kinch recounted the incident in a now viral Facebook post which is enough to put anyone off ever letting their pet stay with anyone put a trusted family member again.
Recounting leaving Nova with the Dublin-based kennel, P&E Kennels, the woman wrote:
“This was the first time I had left her with anyone that wasn’t a family member and I made the staff aware of the fact I was quite nervous leaving her.
“Nova had an ongoing issue with colitis and this was being managed with steroids for the last few months very successfully, she had also been checked by my vet prior to boarding and we had discussed taking her off the steroids as she was responding so well.
“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, P&E also advertise that they cater for medication and dogs that need extra care once they are informed in advance.”
She continued:
“I was due to collect Nova on the 31st of December, I went straight from the airport to P&E to do this. I rang the kennels four times while we sat outside in the car waiting to be let in to pick her up. Clive answered [on] the fourth try and asked which dog I was here to collect I said I was here for Nova and I was then told to come around to the back gate.
“As we walked in the gate, myself and my mom were told that Nova had passed away and they had found her this morning in her kennel with blood coming from her.
“We where completely shocked and beyond devastated to hear this and at first I thought it was some horrible joke considering we had left a healthy dog in to be cared for 3 days earlier.”
When an animal passes away in someone else’s care, whether it is at a vet or somewhere else, usually, the people who break the news do so with the utmost sympathy, then clearly explain the options available to the owner when it comes to the disposal of their remains.
There are no words to describe how upsetting and traumatic it was to carry her to the car and take her home in what seemed a completely inhuman way.”
