Dog owners are angry after their pets died of extreme heat as they were being cared for at a pet center in Canada.
The incident unfolded on Friday night, at the Playful Paws Pet Centre in Sutherland.
On Friday afternoon, an employee warned management that the windowless room, where 14 dogs were kept, was getting too hot.
Before staff went home at night, they were told to put fans in the room and close the door. The room did not cool down. A malfunction in the heating system on the roof of the building made the room hotter and hotter.
The dogs all died of heat exhaustion. On Saturday morning, the staff of Playful Paws Pet Centre entered the room and found all the dogs dead.
Owners of the dead dogs are angry, saying that they had been told the dogs were under 24 hour supervision. Manager Bonnie Clark apologized to the dog owners, and said that she cannot imagine the pain they might be feeling.
The room was shut down, but the rest of the business remains open. Police launched an investigation, but so far, no arrests have been made.
“The staff and management of Playful Paws Pet Centre are devastated to acknowledge the loss of life of 14 dogs on early Saturday morning.
“We are incredibly saddened by this travesty of life and cannot express enough our sympathy to the families of these dogs. We have been able to contact most of the dog owners and are constantly trying to reach the remaining few.
“A mechanical failure on one of our rooftop heating units caused it to continuously push heat into one of our upstairs kennel rooms, to the point that the dogs being kept there passed away.
“We love our dogs and each of our team is trying to personally cope with this terrible loss. Having said that, we understand that our pain is small compared to the loss that is being experienced by our dog owners.
“Our sincerest of sympathy goes out to all of these individuals and the family and friends who loved these dogs,” Playful Paws Pet Centre wrote on Facebook.
