By Caitlyn Meisner | cmeisner@alextimes.com
The Potomac Yard PetSmart PetsHotel is under investigation by the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria following the deaths of three dogs between June 26 and June 29.
The first death that was reported to AWLA – the animal control agency within the city – was that of Clark, a 3-year-old Aussiedoodle, who died on June 29 after getting dropped off at the facility on the evening of June 27. The owner, according to WJLA-TV which first reported the story on July 3, said Clark did not have a history of health problems and had stayed at the boarding facility before with no issues.
Blu, a 7-year-old pure-bred Boxer, died on June 27 following his stay at the PetsHotel from June 18 to June 24. The owners noticed Blu’s bloody eyes and cloudy corneas when they picked him up. Blu’s owners did not initially report his death to the AWLA, but did so after seeing the WJLA story about Clark.
Lily, a 16-year-old Labrador Retriever, was the third death to be reported to the AWLA after her stay at the facility from June 18 to June 22. She was rushed to the emergency veterinarian by a PetSmart employee, sent to a friend of the owner’s and then died on June 26 after returning home with her owner.
Lily and Blu were cremated, but Clark was not. Clark’s owner decided to have a necropsy – or an animal autopsy – done on his dog to find the exact cause of death. Lily and Blu’s causes of death cannot be exactly determined.
PetSmart, upon request, released the following statement to the Times. This is the same one that has been released to other news outlets since the deaths became public.
“Pet care and safety are our top priorities. As pet lovers, we are heartbroken when a pet passes away. We take this extremely seriously and have been in touch with everyone involved to offer our complete support. We are diligently investigating and working closely with the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria,” the statement reads. “Based on what we’ve learned, these three incidents are each unique with different causes ranging from underlying conditions to older age – not due to the time in our care. Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively conducting hands-on retraining with our Potomac Yard associates to ensure our best-in-class safety standards are always adhered to.”
According to Tony Rankin, chief operating officer at AWLA, necropsies typically take a few weeks to come back with all of its results. When the Times spoke with Rankin on July 26, he said results were expected to be released to him and his team by mid-week this week. In a July 30 update posted to the AWLA website, one test result was not completed and has delayed the full results.
“We are hopeful the results will be in within the next few weeks, and we will be able to form a clearer, full picture of what caused Clark’s illness and death,” the statement reads.
Rankin said in the initial results that AWLA saw, it is believed there may have been a respiratory issue that led to Clark’s death. He also said Blu and Clark did not report any health issues prior to their stay at the boarding facility, but Lily did.
“Lily was at an advanced age being 16 years old and a Labrador. She was a pretty senior girl,” Rankin said. “[She] was reported to be kind of a picky eater not necessarily doing real well before she went to the boarding kennel.”
Rankin credited the PetSmart employees for acting quickly in these particular cases.
“The employees at the PetSmart PetsHotel in at least two of the cases did provide veterinary care. They did take the animals to a veterinarian when they realized that there was something wrong, which is exactly what they’re supposed to do,” he said.
Rankin said the AWLA did not suspect any employee was directly causing any medical issues. He noted if the report comes back and indicates foul play, AWLA will work with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office in Alexandria to file charges; the office would assist them in reviewing the report and advise AWLA in the next steps.
“There’s nothing to indicate that anybody did anything to cause any of the issues,” he said.
He also noted the PetSmart location and corporate team was being cooperative during this time and was supportive of the inspections being conducted by the AWLA every 48 hours or so.
“The PetSmart corporate leadership actually asked us to continue to do the checks for a little while because they felt that it was a good idea and that, in their opinion, they don’t have anything to hide,” Rankin said.
These checks are not mandated by the state and done because AWLA thinks it’s necessary, Rankin said.
Under state code, the state veterinarian and their representatives have the power to conduct inspections “at any reasonable time.”
“[They have the] power to conduct inspections of public and private animal shelters, and inspect any business premises where animals are housed or kept, including any boarding establishment, kennel, pet shop or the business premises of any dealer, exhibitor or groomer, at any reasonable time, for the purposes of determining if a violation of: (i) this chapter; (ii) any other state law governing the care, control or protection of animals; or (iii) any other state law governing property rights in animals has occurred,” the code states.
Another Virginia state code stipulates that upon receiving a complaint, any animal protection agency or law enforcement officer can enter the premises during business hours for the purpose of investigating.
“Public animal shelters are inspected yearly by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, but these boarding kennels are not,” Rankin noted. “It’s kind of hard to understand why boarding kennels don’t also get the same type of inspections and confirmation that they are clean and safe for our pets.”
After receiving the complaints, Rankin and his team go into the facility every 48 hours – a time window they set – and inspect the facility for cleanliness, safety, animal well being and violation of any state codes.
“We try to go in randomly, so not the same time every day so [it’s] more fair and balanced,” Rankin said. “It’s not expected that we’re showing up at 1 o’clock every day. One day, we’ll show up at 9 o’clock, the next day 2 o’clock. It’s more of a surprise inspection so it can’t be predicted.”
He also said the schedule for inspecting facilities upon complaint is not standard but depends on the particular case.
“If it had been a different boarding kennel [and] we knew this was happening, we would be doing the same thing with them,” Rankin said. “It’s obviously not just because it’s PetSmart. It’s a place that cares for people’s pets and most people consider their pets like family.”