Kennel In Crown Point Shut Down As Dog's Death Investigated
(CBS) -- A Crown Point kennel has been shut down by officials in Lake County while the Sheriff's Department conducts an investigation into the death of a dog that had been boarded there.
Crystal Vanderlaan tells WBBM that she boarded her 8-year-old Boxer, named Buster, at Westwind Kennels, in Crown Point for two weeks.
She says her husband picked him up on Monday, "and found him lying on the concrete floor covered in his own waste, couldn't move, couldn't lift his head, barely breathing."
Kennel In Crown Point Shut Down As Dog's Death Investigated
The dog was seen by three veterinarians this week.
"He was dehydrated, malnourished," Vanderlaan says.
She says he was treated over three days and was coming around, but his condition deteriorated last night and the dog had to be put down and the vet told her his heart rate was so low that there was not much else they could do for the dog.
She says two vets told her, "It had been a minimum of seven to ten days to get to the state that he was in without food and water."
The owner of the Westwind Kennels, Henry Ruhweidel, insists that the dog was not mistreated. He declined to be interviewed on the radio and said it was a private matter.
However, he did speak at length about what happened. Ruhweidel said the dog was extremely aggressive and had tried to bite him and kennel workers. He said it also tried to chew it's way through a fence to get to another dog. According to Ruhweidel, the dog was eating and drinking and had normal stools and urine and he thinks there was an undiagnosed medical condition.
Vanderlaan says her dog was healthy before going into the kennel and she has numerous people who would testify to that. She wants Ruhweidel arrested.
For now, he's under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the kennel he's owned for about 20 years has been shut down.
He said that was unfair, and he added, he's not planning to re-open the facility but will retire instead.
