The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria is investigating the deaths of three dogs who died during or after being boarded at the PetSmart Pets Hotel in Potomac Yard.
Seven-year-old Nova Reed is a tall, active great dane. She and her owners moved to D.C. three years ago. Nova's owner, Sara Reed, says she started to notice changes in Nova’s health and behavior after first boarding at the Potomac Yard PetSmart.
“Over the course of the last three years, things, for the most part, were fine,” Reed said. “Other than the kennel cough that one time, and then one time she came home with digestive issues.”
Reed said Nova’s last boarding at the Pets Hotel from June 28 to July 7 is when things took a sharp turn.
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“Not only was she coughing up blood, this last time that we picked her up, but she had diarrhea,” Reed said.
The latest case comes after an almost month-long investigation by the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria after the League was contacted about a death of a dog during its stay at the PetSmart Pets Hotel.
Alexandria’s chief animal control officer confirmed to News4 that the agency began an investigation on July 1 after the death of a 3-year-old Aussie-doodle named Clark. The agency says Clark's owner told investigators that the dog was dead on arrival after a PetSmart employee dropped Clark off at the vet while Clark was being boarded at the Pets Hotel.
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The dog’s body was sent for a necropsy, like an autopsy for humans, and the League is still awaiting those results.
The Animal League says two additional pet owners came forward with similar allegations. Investigators say two owners told them that their dogs experienced illnesses and later died within a week of being boarded at the Pets Hotel.
Animal investigators say all three dogs boarded the Pets Hotel during that same time. Since those complaints, the League says it has been visiting and inspecting the Pets Hotel every two days.
PetSmart released this statement to News4 saying in response:
“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. 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.”
Nova’s owner says she hopes no other pets are harmed as the investigation continues.
“I think the facility should be shut down until the investigation concludes,” Reed said. “I feel like I’m a long-time customer at this point, and as sweet as some of the staff members have been to my dog, my dog has come home and, like I said, there’s been a few occurrences where she’s come home and there was issues.”
News4 crews were at the site earlier in the day Saturday and saw animal service workers coming in and out of the PetSmart. It's not clear what they were doing inside, but the League has said that PetSmart has been cooperating with the investigation.
The Animal Welfare League released an update on Tuesday, July 24, saying they "do not suspect any active cruelty or intent to harm animals on the part of any PetSmart employees."
The investigation is ongoing, and they are still awaiting Clark's necropsy results as well as from the attending veterinarians that took care of Blue and Lily, the other dogs who died, about their examinations and findings.
