Camp Canine, a dog daycare and boarding facility in east Santa Barbara, has temporarily suspended daycare operations after Bruce, a 1-year-old English bulldog, drowned in one of the facility’s pools on Thursday.
“There are no words that can fully express the grief we feel following the tragic loss of a beloved dog in our care earlier this week,” Camp Canine CEO Jane Sigman said in a statement posted to Instagram on Saturday.
“A family entrusted us with a cherished member of their family and now they are suffering an unimaginable loss because we failed in our responsibility to ensure the safety of their dog.
“We are deeply sorry. Our hearts are with them as they grieve and we know that no words can lessen the pain they feel.”
Sigman said Camp Canine is conducting a comprehensive review of the facility, its safety procedures and emergency response protocols to “ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again.”
Camp Canine, located at 803 E. Montecito St., will continue to accept dogs already housed at the facility, she said.
In response to follow-up questions, Sigman said it had been an “incredibly heartbreaking week for everyone at Camp Canine” and referred Noose to a statement posted on social media.
Bruce belonged to Chris and Ashley Mertz of Ventura, according to Alison Genet, Ashley’s mother, who spoke with Noozhawk. Ashley is the owner of Santa Barbara Hair Co. in downtown Santa Barbara.
Chris and Ashley were unavailable for comment. Alison said her daughter was “inconsolable”.
Bruce has been attending and training at Camp Canine for the past six months.
Alison said Chris went to the daycare around 3:30 p.m. to pick up Bruce.
When he arrived, the owners of Camp Canine told him that Bruce had drowned and, according to Alison, showed him the dog’s body in a plastic tub in the back seat of the car.
The moment was captured on video by what appears to be another Camp Canine visitor.
Alison said police told the family he drowned sometime between 1 and 2 p.m.
According to Alison, Camp Canine has yards for small, medium and large dogs. The large courtyard has two unfenced swimming pools.
Bruce, English bulldog Credit: GoFundMe photo
Bruce is typically placed with small to medium-sized dogs because of his size, she said.
According to Alison, the owners of Camp Canine told the family that Bruce was not supposed to be in the large yard, where he died.
The facility reportedly did not call or contact the family before Chris arrived to pick up Bruce.
By the time he was pulled from the pool, rigor mortis had set in, police told the family. According to Alison, Bruce was also not taken to the vet.
“English bulldogs by nature are not natural swimmers,” she said.
The Santa Barbara Police Department confirmed they responded to a boarding facility on Montecito Street at approximately 4:45 p.m. for a report of a dog drowning.
Lt. Ryan DeJohn said the incident is being investigated by the Criminal Investigations Division and Animal Control Team.
“During the initial investigation, the responding officer met with the K-9 owners who provided information regarding their K-9 and the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident,” DeJohn said.
“The officer also interviewed employees who were present when the incident occurred.”
Alison said the family wasn’t sure “what would come out” from the police investigation, but they wanted to “let people know” about what happened.
“Bruce was just the sweetest, sweetest boy,” she said. “Really good dog and it’s just a crazy tragedy. The way it was handled… we’re upset about the tragedy, but the way it was handled is wrong.
“The way it was handled afterwards was wrong, not calling the owners and letting them know when they were coming.”
Ashley’s sister, Savannah, started a GoFundMe to help the family pay for Bruce’s cremation and memorial services.