My dog has just died at a boarding kennel

[Orc]

Looking for advice. We are on holiday and my dog has just died at a boarding kennel.

We have been using this kennel for years. They phoned me at 9.45 to say he had shallow breathing. And that they would normally take him to the vet straight away but they were short staffed and could not.

So they phoned my emergency contact, my sister, who lives 40 minutes away. By the time she had got there he had died. They said “ideally we like emergency contacts to live closer”, whilst also admitting that they had failed him.

I am so shocked and angry. We trusted them. I also feel like I have let him down as I was not there when he needed me.

I’m not sure how to process this but I feel like they could have done more to help him. What should I do?

DSis is taking him to the vet so we can find out how he died.

edited to add: he died about an hour after they first called. My sister did tell them it would take her 40 to 45 mins to get to them. The kennels are a 15 min drive from the vet.

I’m so very very sorry.

The kennel were incredibly irresponsible. So what if they were short staffed? What could have possibly happened if one of them had taken half an hour out to drop him at the vets? Of course they should have taken him.

@Orc they should have 1 member of staff/25 dogs according to the DEFRA guidelines.
They must have had over 25 dogs in if they couldn't spare one of them to take him to the vet.

We have dogs left with us who don't have anyone as an emergency contact. Although it is preferable to have one, it sometimes can't be helped if someone doesn't have one.

I do hope the kennels don't ask for payment, we would waiver your bill in these circumstances.

We had a dog die at the kennels, the vets did come and collect him.

I was really angry at the kennels because he was happy, healthy and fit the day before. I felt like it was something the kennel must have done.

It turns out he had a heart defect, and it could have happened anywhere it just happened at the kennels.

It can be really traumatic when you aren't there and don't know the variables, so I understand your upset at the loss of your dear pet.

I do think that the people saying that given the timings, there was probably not much more that could be done are right too. It can be hard to feel like that right now though.

I'm very sorry for your loss OP.

I am so sorry!! They should have gone straight to the vet!!

And makes me wonder if short staffed also means they could have spotted the problem sooner?

Sorry for your loss it's tough with the 'what if i did xyz differently' phase of grief anyway without such circumstances. I hope the post mortem helps to answer some questions as sometimes the cause isn't obvious and can be a more like finding a needle in a haystack.

While it may not have changed the sad outcome given the speed even if an emergency vet had been called to attend the kennels. I don't think it's right that the kennels have put this on you for not having a more local emergency person when vet treatment falls under their duty of care. It wouldn't require an experienced person to drive given the kennel can load and vet staff unload so they could've also asked locally being short of staff.

So sorry.

Salukis are gorgeous.

I also have a dog with a similar deep chested sighthound mix in her. Bloat/GDV is always at the back of my mind. We don't let her race around after eating, etc., to reduce the risk. The kennel should have acted really fast. If it was bloat there may be lessons that can be learnt by other kennels to try to reduce the risk.

How DARE they put it on you or your sister???

they can pay for the post mortem and any other costs! At the very least.

I’m so sorry. We lost our Saluki lurcher earlier this month too xx

I’m so sorry for the loss of your dog OP, so sad. It is a shock as well when you are away and cannot respond.
I am also sorry that the boarding kennels felt the need to mention the distance for the emergency contact, and that feels like they are being defensive and thinking probably should have done more (or tried to. )

However, see what the vets say and take it from there, as @QuirkyHorse says the least they could do is waive your fee.

on a separate note I’ve never been asked for an emergency contact by the kennels we have used, so for me it’s something I will remember in future to give.

Deep chested breeds like Salukis are prone to torsion of the gut, and jumping around is a risk factor. It seems possible that this is what happened and it is a medical emergency. The pm will tell you if this was the cause of death. To not have noticed it sooner, and to not have taken him immediately to a vet, seems absolutely negligent to me. Most owners leave a dog in kennels because they are away, not everyone has an emergency contact person near enough that they can take a dog immediately to a vet in an emergency situation, the kennel should have provision for this. I’m so sorry OP, this is tragic to read.

I was thinking this too, middle aged lurchers are not prone to sudden death. I'd be wondering if there were signs they could've spotted yesterday if they were more attentive :( I know not necessarily though.

So sorry OP for the loss of your lovely doggy.

Have you tried to get a vet out on a weekend?

Op, its so sad. We have had a couple die when in our care. One was simply old, 15 if I remember rightly and the owners left him for 6 weeks knowing he probably would not be alive on their return. It was so sad 😞

The other was young fit and healthy rottweiler. She looked as if she was sleeping curled up. Vet/family relayed back to us it must have been some underlying heart condition and she had a massive heart attack in her sleep. We could not have foreseen that.

I think as owners we will always carry the guilt if we are not with them when they pass.

I'm outraged on your behalf that they said you should have a closer emergency contact. Presumably most people who have someone very close by who can drop everything at any moment to take a dog to the vet wouldn't need to use a boarding kennel!

Id want know how often he was checked, was he found during his normal morning routine at 9.45, we don't know how long ne was unwell for, did he have a health problem. It's very sad, you trust your pets into their care and they should have called a vet or at least the surgery they use to get the number of the emergency vet or nurse cover.

So sorry for the loss of your dog, heartbreaking

Hope you get to the bottom of what happened to him

I hope you push for them to pay any vet costs. And review their business honestly on any forum you can.
Your poor bairn.

Many people don't have an emergency contact, it's often the owner.

But it sounds as if it was noticed on opening, if he was fine yesterday I'm not sure how they would have known. But yes they absolutely should have taken him to the vet.

We have emergency contacts and vet details for all our boarders. It seems strange not too? But then we treat them like you would kids in nursery in that sense.

I’m sorry to hear this OP. It does seem really wrong that they were not able to take him to the vet in an emergency. Even if your sister lived closer, she may not have been immediately contactable, so it seems like a bit of a poor excuse to say they prefer emergency contacts to live closer.

I'm so sorry for your loss OP - such a heartbreaking way to lose your dog - it sounds like it was totally out of the blue.

A couple of things - did you have/sign and contract with the kennels? It's worth checking what that says.

It's possible that your dog may just have died overnight, either at the kennels or in your home. With such a sudden death, even if it was in the daytime, there is often not enough time to get to a vet or it's too late even if you do get them there.

That’s absolutely heartbreaking and I can’t imagine how you must be feeling. It does sound like the kennels should’ve taken him straight to the vet, short-staffed or not. Let the vet do the checks so you know what happened, and when you’re back home you can decide whether to make a formal complaint. But please don’t blame yourself, you trusted a place you’d used for years.

Im sorry this has happened, it must be very upsetting for you

if the emergency contact lived to far away - then the kernels should have mentioned that when the dog was being left there. I take it the milage was on the emergency contact details with the form? If not and they don't ask that question then why is it only coming up now? Do they take dogs that don't have an emergency contact?

So sorry for your loss x

So sorry op but clearly it was something catastrophic like a stroke etc that was not survivable as death was so swift.

If they'd left him all day yes but in the space of an hour there was obviously nothing to be done.

Our dog collapsed and died quickly, I'm glad we didn't cause her distress by dashing off to the vets.

I'm sure the kennel staff are upset too so please just accept that these things sadly happen .