Dog owner accuses Richmond kennel of 'starving and neglecting' pet

A 29-year-old Vancouver resident has filed a formal complaint with the B.C. SPCA alleging a Richmond kennel neglected and starved his dog during a three-week stay this month.

Matt Devries said he dropped off his 3-year-old Great Dane named Apollo on Dec. 28 so the dog could be trained at the B.C. Canine Training Centre while Devries travelled in Brazil.

"They have a reputation for training dogs," said Devries.

"That's why I brought him there — I didn't need to board him and that's why I feel so guilty."

What transpired between Dec. 28 and Jan. 18 is now part of an ongoing SPCA investigation, after Devries returned from his trip this week to find, he said, his dog had lost nearly 16 kilograms.

 "I'm heartbroken," he said.

"His muscles wasted away. They watched him suffer and starve and only decided to bring him to the veterinarian after three weeks," Devries said. 

Phil Moriarty, the owner of the kennel, said Apollo had a problem with the food provided by the kennel and employees had unsuccessfully made attempts to reach Devries to let him know.

Eventually, Moriarty said staff decided to take the dog to a veterinarian on Jan. 18.

"After five days we could see the dog wasn't tolerating our house food ... once he lost too much weight we decided we're going to take him to the vet whether we can get a hold of this guy or not," said Moriarty.

But Devries questions why the dog wasn't taken to a veterinarian sooner and whether the incident could have been prevented entirely. 

Devries said he was unaware of the condition of his dog because he had not heard from the kennel until Jan. 11, when an employee called to ask when he would pick up his pet.

In the message obtained by CBC News, an employee asks Devries to call back to confirm a date. There is no mention of the condition of Apollo in the message. 

Devries said he responded and asked for photos of his dog.

"[I was told over the phone] he was happy and healthy and that they're going to send me photos."

The photos never arrived and on Jan. 18, Devries said he was surprised to learn Apollo had been taken to a veterinarian.

"I called the vet and she said he looked skinny and they recommended he take some medications because he had blood in his diarrhea," said Devries.

"After talking to her, I agreed to the stool sample and we said that when I come back we'll probably do the blood test because it's a couple of dollars and I really didn't understand the condition he was in." 

"He was skinny — she didn't say he had lost 35 pounds [15.9 kilograms] which is over 25 per cent of his body weight. I didn't know about this until I came back."

Moriarty claims Devries declined service from the veterarian for his pet's health on Jan. 18.

"He had to send the dog back home with us cause the guy didn't want to do something," said Moriarty.

Devries maintains he did not refuse treatment for Apollo. 

The veterinary clinic refused to comment.

While the SPCA investigates, Moriarty said he's become the target of online attacks after a Facebook post by Devries went viral.

"The lesson for us now is we're never going to take another dog that doesn't bring its own food," said Moriarty.

Meanwhile, Devries said Apollo's health is improving. 

"He's doing better. He's really skinny but he's happy and slowly getting better."