Cd’A kennel closes after dog dies; police blame poor conditions and care at facility

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

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

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

“It was a bit chaotic,” Price-Eddington said. “At that point, everything was a bit of a blur.”

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

Bellatrix, a 13-year-old chocolate lab-golden retriever mix, was another story.

“She brought Bellatrix out, and she was in really bad shape,” Price-Eddington said. “She was having trouble 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 drove home.

A former certified hospice nurse’s assistant familiar with end-of-life symptoms, Price-Eddington said she knew “we were going to lose” Bellatrix. The dog was unresponsive and her paw was limp when she picked her up.

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

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

Faithful K9 was closed last month after Bellatrix died, reportedly due to poor conditions and poor care at the facility, police said.

The loyal K9 trainer’s license has since been revoked and the Coeur d’Alene Police Department has launched an investigation into allegations of neglect and abuse.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, the lack of water, and the early signs of heat exhaustion, had we not moved the dogs, the symptoms would have continued to worsen and would have ultimately led to the deaths of these animals,” according to an animal control officer identified as “K. Main” in the police report. “I believe the conditions I observed, along with the early symptoms of heat issues in the lethargic dogs, are indicative of a lack of care. That lack of care appears to have led to the (dog’s) death.”

Price-Eddington said she doesn’t understand why Faithful K9 staff didn’t call the family to alert them of Bellatrix’s condition. The family could have picked her up and taken her to the vet before it was too late.

She said one of their three other dogs, a chocolate Labrador, took a few days to recover from the heat-related illness. Police noted in a police report that it was about 37 degrees outside that day.

Although Bellatrix is ​​elderly, Price-Eddington said she still runs and plays outside. She ran to the front door, jumped into their Jeep and wagged her tail excitedly as the car ride to the kennel approached on July 18.

“They were still very energetic,” she said of her dogs.

Police wrote in their report that they were familiar with Faithful K9, located at 460 W. Clayton Ave., because of previous calls related to animal abuse, including “a call with similar circumstances.”

Geraldine Schneider, who owns 35 percent of Faithful K9, contacted police on July 19 to ask for animal control’s help in permanently shutting down 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 percent of Faithful K9 and is the lead dog trainer, was arrested in June.

Kootenai County Jail records showed Friday that Alaniz was arrested June 7 on suspicion of drug trafficking and firearms. 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 is expected to be released from prison on September 5, according to prison records. Alaniz declined to be interviewed at the prison on Friday.

Faithful K9’s door was locked Friday and the business could not be reached by phone.

Schneider told police she reported the embezzlement to Alaniz and Faithful K9 staff and had since deactivated her credit cards. As a result, staff could not use the cards to provide the necessities to care for the dogs.

She said she told staff she would buy the supplies they needed and that she checked in on them often. She said she went to the facility on July 20 and was told by an employee they didn’t need any supplies, according to the police report.

Price-Eddington called animal control on July 24 to explain that her dog had died after being housed 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 the facility that day.

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

She brought Luna in and went outside to retrieve Bellatrix, who was lying under a kennel in an outdoor kennel. Police wrote that the kennel was in disrepair and offered little to no shelter from the sun.

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

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

Main wrote that the kennel had violated several ordinances.

Dogs at the facility lacked clean drinking water, Main reported, noting several empty water bowls, and lacked adequate shelter from the elements.

Temperatures inside the facilities were extremely high and the main enclosures were “dilapidated and structurally unstable.”

“It appears that these cages had not been maintained for a very long time, judging from the condition of the wood and chains that composed them,” Main wrote. “Some of the wire cages in which the dogs were kept were not large enough for the dogs to sit up, turn around, and lie down.”

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

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

Another animal control officer, Jon Beamesderfer, wrote that 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 off. Some of the buckets of water contained “very little water and extremely dirty water.”

The building appeared to be in poor condition, with drywall missing in several places, peeling paint on several walls, and mold appearing to be present on the windows and restroom floors.

Officers asked kennel staff to address some of the issues, but upon a return visit, water was still not being provided in sufficient quantities, dogs were being kept outside with no respite from the sun and several animals appeared to be suffering from heat exhaustion, the report said.

Additionally, the kennels were not cleaned and temperatures inside the facilities reached up to 90 degrees.

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

Coeur d’Alene Police Sergeant Jared Reneau said the allegations are “concerning” and that police are conducting a thorough investigation. He said they plan to submit a report to the district attorney’s office next week. The district attorney would then decide whether to file charges.

Price-Eddington said losing Bellatrix and her stepmother back-to-back was extremely difficult.

She said someone should be held accountable for her family’s loss and she will rely on the police to do what she thinks is best. She will also likely file a civil suit against Faithful K9.

Price-Eddington stressed the importance of caring for animals during the heat.

“I think we’re even more stunned and stunned by the neglect that the dogs suffered,” she said. “We still don’t have any concrete answers about exactly what happened.”