A Maryland woman is grieving the loss of her dog after boarding her pets with a Clinton, Maryland, pet resort last week.
Hugo, a 1-year-old Italian mastiff, was found dead on the side of the road a dozen miles from the location where he was being kept. Kayla Roman believes her dog, Sasha, a 1-year-old Cane Corso, is grieving the loss of her brother, Hugo, her littermate, from whom she has never been separated.
Roman said a family emergency forced her to board those two dogs plus her 7-year-old boxer, named Phillie, on Thursday, May 19 at Axiom Pet Resort. She said she called to check on them every day, and on Sunday, May 22, she got the feeling something was wrong.
She went to the resort the next morning and said an employee presented her with only two of her dogs. Video taken a short time later shows a lethargic Sasha and Roman, now extremely concerned, contacted Prince George's County Police.
Another video showed the limp that prompted Roman to take the dog to the vet, where she learned, to her horror, that two days earlier, someone had spotted the body of a dog fitting Hugo's description on the side of Route 301, near the Lowe's in Waldorf, more than a dozen miles away.
Roman and her family found the remains of the gentle giant at that location. The dog's death and the circumstances leading up to it are under investigation by Prince George's County Animal Control.
On Tuesday, news partners WTOP received a statement from Axion Pet Resort to tell their side of the story.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
"A dog (Hugo) escaped from his kennel area and was located in Waldorf, approximately 12 miles away on May 23. The dog was last seen the night of May 22 at approximately 7:30 p.m., when he was last fed.
"When interviewing the employee on that shift (one of our 3 most senior employees), he noted that he had left the pass-through door open overnight(this allows dogs access to the outside from the inside space), because he was unable to get the dog inside and was unable to go into the kennel as the dog was being aggressive (owner also noted this on drop off). This, in itself, is completely against our policies, as all dogs are required to be inside following their dinner meal. We immediately terminated the employee responsible.
"From there, the dog had to either jump out of his outdoor kennel space or somehow manipulate the latch. We know he did escape from his outdoor kennel, as we found stool in our secondary containment fence area.
"From there, we assume the dog either squeezed through a narrow opening found between our fence and shed or jumped over the fence, as a few bags of mulch were stacked up by the fence. As soon as we discovered this (on May 23), we created flyers and sent out search parties. Eventually, the dog was located, deceased on the side of the road in Waldorf by one of our employees, who then covered the dog and notified a manager.
"As far as the other two dogs (Sasha & Phillie), the owner claimed the dogs were not acting normal. We directed them to a local vet office, where they were then cleared of any injuries. The owners then asked to go to a different vet and took them to an animal hospital of their choice, where they were also cleared of any physical injuries (one dog had pre-existing masses, and that was noted by the vet in the report, which we have also released). We assume this is either from a much prior incident or the house fire the dogs were just in, as they were being boarded with us due to that.
"Following the incident, PG County animal control conducted interviews and inspections. After the investigation, Animal Control cleared Axiom Pet Resort of any negligence or wrong doing (other than the fact a dog escaped) and notified us we have been cleared.
"Anyone who knows us can attest we are lifelog dog loving people who have devoted our lives to these animals and would never allow this to happen. All employees prior to working must complete weeks of training to include 'The Dog Guru’s' program as well as canine familiarity and care via Dogs101 videos on each breed. The employee responsible was terminated, all vet bills were imminently paid by us, and we are deeply saddened by this event as we fully understand that dogs really are members of our family.
"We would like to thank all of our current customers who are speaking out in our support, as we truly pour our heart and souls into each dog that comes in. This is a terrible incident that we take full responsibility for. We ask people not to judge us based on the poor decisions of a single employee who knew the protocols and regulations and chose not to follow them."
