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Dog sick after injury at daycare goes unnoticed

Posted at 7:29 PM, Feb 01, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-01 19:30:07-05

FLORENCE, Ky. — A dog went into a Northern Kentucky dog daycare just fine, but left with a nasty infection and a big vet bill.

A local dog named Nikko is recovering from an infection after his owner, Erika Igo said an puncture wound went unnoticed for a day after staying at Allie’s Walkabout in Crescent Springs.

Igo said the wound went unnoticed because of the dog’s thick coat.

David Clegg, with Allie’s Walkabout, said the injury was from what professionals refer to as a “dust up.”

“What happened is literally, in about 3-4 seconds what we call a ‘dust up’ stopped and ended on its own,” Clegg told WCPO. “We didn’t have to separate the dogs. It wasn’t an attack — it was dogs posturing for pack position.”

Clegg said his facility’s off-leash care differentiates the family-owned dog daycare from others in the area. The model requires employees undergo 25 classroom hours of training to learn how to identify dog behavior body language.

After the dust up, Clegg said, the dogs involved were inspected per employees’ training.

Igo said she understands how the daycare might have missed the injury — and that she missed it, as well — but is still concerned that no one noticed.

“Even though staffing said they did look over Nikko and all that — and with the thick coat it was hard to see — but the bottom line is I was not notified about it,” she said. “I just wasn’t notified, and I should’ve been.”

Clegg said Allie’s Walkabout has offered to reimburse Igo for the nearly $500 in veterinary expenses in the form of credit for future services at the daycare, even though the agreement between the daycare and its customers states pet owners assume financial responsibility in case of injury.