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 dogduring a three-week stay this month.

Matt Devriessaidhe dropped off his 3-year-old Great Dane named Apollo on Dec. 28so the dogcould be trained at the B.C. Canine Training Centrewhile Devries travelled in Brazil.

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

"That's why Ibrought him there Ididn't need to board him and that's why Ifeel so guilty."

What transpired between Dec.28and Jan. 18is 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.

"Hismuscles wasted away. They watched him suffer and starve and only decided to bring him to the veterinarian after threeweeks," 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 aveterinarian 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 soonerand whether the incident could have been prevented entirely.

Devriessaid 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 andasked 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, Devriessaid he was surprised to learn Apollo had been taken to a veterinarian.

"Icalled the vet and she said he looked skinny and they recommended he take some medications because he had blood in hisdiarrhea," said Devries.

"After talking to her, Iagreed to the stool sample and we said that when Icome back we'll probablydo the blood test because it's a couple of dollars and Ireally 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 centof his body weight. I didn't know about this until I came back."

Moriartyclaims Devriesdeclined service from the veterarian for his pet's health on Jan. 18.

"He had to send the dog back home with us cause the guydidn'twant to do something," said Moriarty.

Devriesmaintainshe 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 healthis improving.

"He'sdoing better. He's really skinnybut he's happy andslowly getting better."