FLORIDA -- Anthony Ifasi thought his puppy would be safe at a pet resort in Lutz. He boarded a flight to Las Vegas, and when he landed he received a disturbing text message from the pet resort.
Anthony's brother Derek explains the phone call that followed.
" 'Oh yeah, we have bad news for you. Your dog drowned.' It's unbelievable cause you think they would be more professional, have the owner call and say, 'what can we do to rectify the situation,' " Derek said.
Anthony's brother Derek explains the phone call that followed.
" 'Oh yeah, we have bad news for you. Your dog drowned.' It's unbelievable cause you think they would be more professional, have the owner call and say, 'what can we do to rectify the situation,' " Derek said.
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| RIP Batman |
Their Scottish Terrier puppy named "Batman" had drowned in the pool. Anthony, who is still in Las Vegas, said he just couldn't believe it.
"It's horrific. It's like a bad dream you can't wake up from," Anthony said.
Derek says the owner of New Tampa Pet Resort admitted to family members they were understaffed the day of the accident.
But resort owner Lisa Golicher says that's not true, that they were fully staffed that day.
"In the end, it's a tragedy. It was an incident, and again our hearts go out to the family " Golicher said.
Golicher has been in business for four successful years, and has never had a tragedy like this before. She says the motion sensor camera caught Batman that day running in the play area, but never shows what lead to his death.
Golicher has offered to pay for an autopsy to give the family some answers.
"That's why we'd like to see an autopsy to see, and put to rest what happened," Golicher said.
Under Florida law animals are considered property, so your dog is seen as a piece of furniture.
Experts say if a pet is intentionally hurt or killed, judges and especially juries tend to award for damages, but if your dog dies due to negligence, you have no legal rights.
In the end, Anthony wants awareness for future pet owns and accountability.
"The owner, she seems nice. Very apologetic. The problem is we have a dead dog as a result of her company's actions. Four years, one death, that's a 25 percent death rate. That's unacceptable. Zero percent rate is the only acceptable rate in this situation," Anthony said.
(MyFoxTampaBay - May 9, 2012)
