Cd’A dog kennel shuts down after dog dies; police blame poor conditions, care at facility

Tiffaney Price-Eddington said she’s boarded her dogs at Faithful K9 Trainer LLC several times without issues.

So Price-Eddington and her family, who live in Hayden, dropped their three dogs off at the Coeur d’Alene facility July 18 to visit her husband’s dying mother. They returned July 20 to pick up the dogs, but the atmosphere was different.

She said it was hot and humid inside the building, with “a lot of tension in the office.”

“It was just kind of chaotic,” Price-Eddington said. “Everything was kind of fuzzy at that point.”

An employee brought out two of her dogs, which Price-Eddington said were panting with their tongues hanging out to the side, but appeared to be OK.

Bellatrix, a 13-year-old chocolate Lab and golden retriever mix, was a different story.

“She brought out Bellatrix, and she was in really bad shape,” Price-Eddington said. “She was labored breathing. She could barely stand. She could barely hold her head up.”

After Price-Eddington’s husband hoisted a weakened Bellatrix into the car, they blasted the air conditioning and headed home.

A former hospice certified nursing assistant who is familiar with end-of-life symptoms, Price-Eddington said she knew “we were gonna lose” Bellatrix. The dog was unresponsive and her paw was limp when she lifted it.

“There was nothing in her eyes,” she said.

The family tried to make her comfortable at home, and she died a couple of hours later.

Faithful K9 was shut down last month following Bellatrix’s death, apparently from poor conditions and care at the facility, according to police.

Faithful K9 Trainer’s license has since been revoked, and the Coeur d’Alene Police Department launched an investigation into allegations of neglect and abuse.

The remaining dogs at the facility were reunited with their owners.

“With the high temperatures inside the facility, lack of water, and dogs showing early signs of heat exhaustion, if we had failed to move the dogs, symptoms would have continued to become worse and eventually would have lead to death of these animals,” according to an animal control officer identified as “K. Main” in the police report. “I believe the conditions I observed, as well as the early symptoms of heat issues the lethargic dogs were showing, show lack of care. This lack of care appear to have resulted in the death of (the dog).”

Price-Eddington said she doesn’t understand why Faithful K9 staff didn’t call to warn the family about Bellatrix’s health. The family could have picked her up and taken her to the veterinarian before it was too late.

She said one of their other three dogs, a chocolate Lab, took a few days to recover from the heat-related illness. Police noted in a police report it was about 99 degrees outside that day.

Although Bellatrix was old, Price-Eddington said she still ran and played outside. She ran out the front door, jumped into their Jeep and wagged her tail in excitement for the car ride to the kennel on July 18.

“They were still really vibrant,” she said of her dogs.

Police wrote in their report they were familiar with Faithful K9, located at 460 W. Clayton Ave., because of prior animal abuse-related calls, including “one with similar circumstances.”

Geraldine Schneider, who owns 35% of Faithful K9, contacted police July 19 to ask for animal control’s assistance in permanently closing Faithful K9, Main wrote in the report.

Main wrote that Schneider is a “silent investor” and does not work at the facility. Schneider told Main she had concerns about the business because Richard Alaniz, who owns the remaining 65% of Faithful K9 and is the head dog trainer, was arrested in June.

The Kootenai County Jail roster indicated Friday Alaniz was arrested June 7 on suspicion of drug and firearm charges. He pleaded guilty July 12 to possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, according to the Idaho Court Portal.

He’s scheduled to be released from jail Sept. 5, the jail roster said. Alaniz declined to be interviewed at the jail Friday.

The door to Faithful K9 was locked Friday, and the business could not be reached by phone.

Schneider told police she made reports of embezzlement against Alaniz and the Faithful K9 staff and had since deactivated her credit cards. Therefore, staff could not use the cards to provide necessities to care for the dogs.

She said she told staff she will purchase supplies they need and often checks in with them. She said she went to the facility July 20 and an employee told her they did not need supplies, according to the police report.

Price-Eddington called animal control July 24 explaining her dog died after being boarded at Faithful K9. Main expressed “immediate concerns” for the remaining dogs at the facility because of the symptoms of Price-Eddington’s dogs. Officers inspected it that day.

An employee told officers she placed Price-Eddington’s three dogs in the outdoor kennels at about noon July 20. She noticed one of the dogs, Luna, seemed to be experiencing heat-related symptoms when she went to retrieve them about 10 minutes later.

She brought Luna inside and went out to get Bellatrix, who was lying under a dog house in an outdoor kennel. Police wrote the kennel was decaying and provided little to no shelter from the sun.

The employee said she realized Bellatrix was not moving and panting “very heavily.” The employee then brought the dog inside the building and directed a fan on the dogs.

The employee was “chuckling and smiling” while speaking with police, Main noted in the report. Main wrote the facility closes from 1 to 3 p.m. for lunch, and employees are not typically present at the facility during those hours. The dogs were most likely left unattended for two hours with heat-related symptoms, she wrote.

Main wrote the kennel violated several ordinances.

The dogs at the facility lacked drinking water, Main reported, noting several empty water bowls, and lacked adequate shelter from the weather.

The indoor facility’s temperatures were extremely hot, and the primary enclosures were “run down and not structurally sound.”

“It appears they hadn’t been maintained in a very long time based on the condition of the wood and chain linkage the kennels were made up of,” Main wrote. “Some of the wired cages which dogs were kept in were not big enough for the dogs inside to sit, turn around, and lay down.”

The lack of shade contributed to Bellatrix’s death and provided Luna with “extreme discomfort and life threatening symptoms,” Main wrote.

The outdoor kennels contained dirt that smelled of urine and feces, according to Main. The facility had little dog food stored on the shelves, and dog food inside the refrigerators was expired.

Another animal control officer, Jon Beamesderfer, wrote several dogs appeared lethargic and were panting heavily during the July 24 inspection.

Some were lying in a large hole they had dug to cool down. Some of the water buckets had “very little and extremely dirty water inside.”

The building appeared to be in poor condition, with drywall missing in several areas, paint peeling off several walls and mold that appeared to be in the windows and on the washroom floor.

The officers told kennel staff to address some of the issues, but on a return visit, adequate water was still not provided, dogs were kept outside with no reprieve from the sun and several of the animals appeared to have heat exhaustion, according to the report.

Additionally, kennels were not cleaned, and temperatures inside the facility were as high as 90 degrees.

Police worked with the city to revoke Faithful K9’s commercial kennel license July 25, meaning the kennel had to close and dog owners had to retrieve their dogs.

Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Jared Reneau said the allegations are “concerning,” and police are conducting a thorough investigation. He said they expect to submit a report to the prosecutor’s office next week. The prosecutor would then determine whether to file charges.

Price-Eddington said losing Bellatrix and her mother-in-law back-to-back has been extremely difficult.

She said someone should be held accountable for their family’s loss, and she will rely on police to do what they think is best. She also will likely pursue civil action against Faithful K9.

Price-Eddington emphasized how important it is to take care of animals in the heat.

“I think we’re more stunned and dumbfounded at the neglect of the dogs,” she said. “We still don’t have solid answers on what exactly happened.”