Salisbury Police investigating after woman says dog died at kennel
SALISBURY - An Amesbury woman says her dog died of apparent heat stroke following a 4-day kennel stay in Salisbury.
"It's been a nightmare," said Brittany Martin of Amesbury. She dropped her dog Mikah, a four-year-old Border Collie, off at Nose to Nub kennel in Salisbury on Tuesday night.
She left to attend her brother's graduation in Texas, and when she returned on Saturday, she says Mikah was not well.
"I found him unconscious, unresponsive, limp, barely even able to look at me, in a bush in her yard," Martin said.
She rushed Mikah to the emergency vet in Portsmouth immediately, but says minutes before she arrived, the dog died in the backseat of her car.
The veterinarian's report read, in part, "I suspect heat stroke... these patients tend to be very critical and even with the best of care, don't always pull through. So sorry about your boy."
Martin is paying for a necropsy to determine the exact cause of death.
She reported the situation to Salisbury Police on Saturday. On Tuesday, the police confirmed to WBZ that they are investigating the situation but say it's too early to provide information about the investigation.
WBZ attempted to contact the owner of Nose to Nub, but she neither answered the door nor messages.
Martin says the owner has contacted her since Mikah died, but she's chosen not to take her calls. "I would tell her that she took away my entire life," Martin said through tears. "This shouldn't have happened. It was preventable and she should've called me and told me something was wrong with him and she didn't."
Martin says she hopes her story will inspire others to research where they send their dogs, and to check in regularly on the dogs when away.