ELYRIA, Ohio — A Lorain County family's vacation ended with heartbreak, when they arrived to pick up their dog at an Elyria kennel, and learned that the dog had been hit and killed by a car more than a week earlier.
Lisa Mahone chronicled her tragedy on Facebook Live, which garnered thousands of views within two hours.
"I'm here at A Barking Boutique," she explained in the video. "We dropped our dog Aza off to be boarded while we were on vacation."
Mahone had just learned that her giant poodle died while being boarded at A Barking Boutique/Yona Pets LLC, on North Ridge Road. She says she was told that Aza died on the first night of boarding on February 4, and that no one notified the family until they tried to pick up Aza on February 12.
Mahone said the kennel told her that the staff had tried to contact her, but she said that she never received a call or a message from the kennel.
"They said they put his body on ice, and now he's in the backyard, I guess rotting in the backyard," she told Facebook viewers.
Mahone's father, Ed Hennes, who had arrived to pick up Aza, choked back his emotions.
"It's not good," he said, as his eyes welled up with tears.
The family says they were told that Aza broke out of his cage, exited the kennel room door, escaped through the building's front door, and wandered into traffic on Route 254, where a car was not able to stop in time.
"They didn't know where the vet was," said Mahone. "And I said, 'How is that possible when you're a place that takes animals and cares for animals, and you don't know where the vet is?'"
Lorain County Sheriff's deputies responded to Mahone's call for assistance. Sgt. Bobby Vansant said investigators will look into whether the kennel is properly licensed and registered by the state, and will investigate any potential state violations that would be punishable by fines.
Deputies interviewed a man who identified himself as the owner of A Barking Boutique.
WKYC asked him questions too.
"I don't know," Julian Brown responded, when asked how the dog was able to break out of its cage and escape through two doors.
Mahone took pictures of the front door, which appeared to have some damage to the inside of the door frame, but no apparent damage to the outside of the door jamb or the door's hardware. WKYC cameras captured the door opening and closing shut without any problems.
"Accidents happen," Brown said. "I'm not 100-percent sure how the dog popped the door open out of place. It must have popped the door open if it's not closed properly. It was a strong dog."
The Better Business Bureau rated A Barking Boutique a B+, but issued an alert to consumers on its website:
The BBB has received a pattern of complaints concerning this firm sold sick and otherwise unhealthy puppies as pets. Most customer complaints concern that their puppy got sick a short time after purchase. On December 5, 2011 the BBB contacted this company about this apparent pattern of complaints and its failure to correct the underlying cause of these complaints. The BBB did not receive a response from the company.
The BBB did not, however, note any complaints about the business's boarding services.