No criminal charges will be filed in the case of three dogs who died during or after they were boarded at the PetSmart Pets Hotel in Potomac Yard, the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria said.
The AWLA said in a release Monday there wasn't enough evidence to charge PetSmart or any of its staff with a violation of the Virginia animal care codes and it concluded its investigation.
The investigation began on July 1 after the death of a 3-year-old Aussie-doodle named Clarke. The Animal Welfare League said Clarke's owner told investigators that the dog was dead on arrival after a PetSmart employee dropped Clarke off at the vet while Clarke was being boarded at the Pets Hotel.
A necropsy, like an autopsy for humans, found Clarke had a serious medical issue: "bacterial pneumonia related to an E. Coli infection with possible sepsis." Clarke's illness was advanced, and "the prognosis for survival would have been poor regardless of where or how he was being cared for," the AWLA said.
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Based on the severity of the infection, the veterinarian who did the necropsy believes Clarke had the bacteria before his stay at the Pets Hotel, according to the agency.
"Furthermore, according to the veterinarian, the onset of physical symptoms related to the illness would have been sudden and worsened rapidly," the Animal Welfare League said.
Two other dogs, named Blu and Lily, had illnesses and later died within a week of being boarded at the Pets Hotel during the same timeframe Clarke was boarded there. A fourth dog, Nova, also became very ill after staying at the Pets Hotel from June 28 to July 7.
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"Without being able to perform a necropsy on Blu, we are unable to determine what may have led to his death. We were also unable to perform a necropsy on Lily; however, her cause of death could be attributed to her advanced age," the AWLA said in its release.
The agency said it does "not believe the care provided at the PetsHotel during the time [Clarke], Blu, and Lily boarded was of an exceptional caliber due to the high number of animals in relation to care staff," but, after reviewing the case with the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, there wasn't enough evidence to charge PetSmart or the employees.
According to the Animal Welfare League there were only four or five employees to about 100 to 160 animals at the Pets Hotel during the time in question. Pet boarding industry standards recommend having an animal-to-staff ratio of one person to every 15 animals, the agency said.
"We will be making strong recommendations to the PetSmart PetsHotel to consider increasing staff or limiting the number of animals in the facility based on current staffing levels," the AWLA said. It also has recommended that PetSmart have a licensed veterinary technician on staff to monitor the health of animals kept at the facility.
"Although charges were not brought against PetSmart because it could not be determined how Clarke became ill, we believe charges should have been brought for denying Clarke timely medical care and ignoring the medical needs of Blue and Nova," the owners of Clarke, Blu and Nova said in a statement Monday.
In their statement, the owners claim PetSmart staff waited nine hours to check on Clarke after he had shown signs of distress the morning of June 29.
PetSmart released this statement to News4:
"As pet lovers ourselves, we are incredibly sad to learn of Clark’s pre-existing condition that led to his passing. We take pride in our level of care and are pleased that the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria confirmed our findings that PetSmart did not have any wrongdoing in these matters. While the investigation’s findings do not bring Clark, Lily or Blu back, we hope their families find comfort in the closure."
The Animal Welfare League said pet owners should do their own extensive research before choosing a place to board their animals.
"Unfortunately, with the lack of government oversight, it is 100% up to the consumer to ensure the facility is providing the standard of care promised and expected," the agency said.
