Pampered Pets special permit rescinded after death of dog

Jan. 27, 2021 | Sarah Heinonen
sarah@thereminder.com

Pampered Pets, located in East Longmeadow, has had their special permit revoked by the East Longmeadow Planning Board after the death of a dog that was in the care of the business.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo

EAST LONGMEADOW – After a months-long ordeal that left a family pet dead and the future of a local small business in question, the East Longmeadow Planning Board revoked the special permit for Pampered Pets at 526 N. Main St., shuttering the dog daycare.

The incident that led to the closure happened in October when five dogs were involved in the mauling of a puppy, which eventually died. There was only one worker, whose dog was involved in the incident, with the animals at the time.

Building Commissioner and Zoning Enforcement Officer Kevin Duquette explained to the Planning Board that he had found the owner of Pampered Pets, Denise Degan, violated condition 10 of the business’s special permit, which stipulates that all animals shall be attended at all times. Condition 7 states that enforcement is the responsibility of the owner and condition 12 makes clear that any violation will result in revocation of the special permit.

Animal Control Officer Melissa Defino-Legacy did an investigation of the incident at the time. Degon had confirmed to Defino-Legacy that an incident involving a puppy and five dogs had occurred. Degon had stated that two employees were on-shift at the time, but one had taken a break and was not in the building. While Degon told the animal control officer that all of the dogs involved were up-to-date on their shots, Defino-Legacy stated she was not able to properly quarantine the dogs because she was not given correct and full information by Degon. She concluded that the dogs had not been given adequate supervision.

Degon appeared before the board with her lawyer, Jane Mantolesky, who said the incident was “incredibly unfortunate” and an “emotional event for everybody.” Mantolesky said the employee in the room, Eve Troy, had her back turned when the attack began and was unable to separate the animals immediately but eventually succeeded. Mantolesky said Degon was dropping other pets off to owners and returned to the shop about eight minutes after the attack. The injured dog was then given basic first aid.

Mantolesky also stated that any inaccuracies in the information given to Defino-Legacy were accidental and not intentional.

Planning Board Clerk Tyde Richards asked Degon what her staff plan provides for an employee to dog ratio. Degon said that the national average is 1:15. She said that ratio is an online recommendation from “professional people that are in the industry.”

When asked why Troy was fired after the incident, Degon said the employee had handled the situation in a way that wasn’t fit for the business because she was “fearful” in the situation. Planning Board member Peter Punderson asked about employee training. Degon said her employees receive training from dog behaviorists and health professionals.

Turning back to the incident, Punderson asked why medical treatment wasn’t sought immediately at the East Longmeadow Animal Hospital, directly next door to Pampered Pets. Degon responded that there wasn’t much external bleeding and the wounds did not “look bad enough to have to bring [the injured dog] to the vet.” Instead, she said that she treated him with hydrogen peroxide and wrapped him in a blanket.

Degon said that she screens dogs before accepting them. She doesn’t take full-blooded pit bulls, rottweilers or dogs that are “high-risk,” she said, and owners must sign paperwork attesting that the dogs play well with others. Degon insisted her record has never had anything like this before.

The owner of the puppy who was mauled, Amy Baxter of Longmeadow, and her lawyer then addressed the Planning Board. The lawyer began by stating it was “offensive” to call the pets “doggies” as Mantolesky had done several times. He said there are eight tools used in the industry to separate dogs that Degon did not have available. Further, he claimed that the firing of Troy means that the employee was not vetted properly or that the business owner did not have the proper staff working.

“This woman has no business being in business,” the lawyer said of Degon. “She’s a danger to pet owners throughout the state and I hope you take the right action tonight.”

Baxter then talked about her puppy, Ollie, who she described as a “sweet, goofy, little muppet” who was attached to her daughter.

After the mauling, she said, Degon had informed her via text message of “a big cut” on her dog. She took issue with Degon’s assessment that the pet “wasn’t hurt enough” and said Ollie went into shock because professional care wasn’t immediately administered.
Chair Russell Denver repeatedly redirected the comments of several speakers back to the permit violations.

Baxter noted that Troy had only worked at the daycare for three weeks and suggested that she couldn’t have been fully trained.

Residents spoke on behalf of both parties. Renee Broadbent said her dog attends Pampered Pets and that Degon uses adequate protections and Jane Wainwright, who frequented Pampered Pets, spoke in support of Degon and mentioned her “commitment.”

Kathy Page, the sister-in-law of another Pampered Pets client, said her relative’s dog was “severely bitten” at the daycare two weeks after the incident with Ollie. The owner had been informed that her dog had been “in a tussle,” Page said. That incident left the animal with seven puncture wounds and the owner with a  $400 veterinarian bill. Defino-Legacy said the second incident was never reported to the animal control office, as required.

A statement was read on behalf of Casey Wilson, who worked for Degon in September of  2018. She said that when interviewed she was offered an “under the table” job on the spot with no worker’s compensation insurance if injured. She also claimed to have been left alone on her first day with no training. Wilson described a workplace with no safety tools or training provided and “lackadaisical” pet screening.

“Denise’s whole plan was to take a dog that we did not know and throw them to the wolves, so to speak, with the other dogs in our care,” Wilson wrote.

 Jenny Mathers, president of JM Pet Resort and formerly an animal control officer, said the industry standard of one person to every 15 dogs is meant to be employed in a group setting with backup. “If you don’t have someone to come in and help you at any given time, then when you go to break up a fight, you can’t do it. It is impossible,” Mathers said and added that it could have been a child attacked and there would have been no way to pull the dogs off.

Mathers also criticized the set up of the building with three separate areas to be supervised by one person.

The Planning Board members then spoke. Richards noted that there was no way to attend to dogs and answer the front desk. And stated that he had concerns that the dog was not taken to a veterinarian by Degon.

Vice Chair George Kingston cautioned that the board members do not have animal care backgrounds and noted that there are no state regulations on dog daycare staffing.

Denver said that the most troubling thing is that there were two people on staff and one left the building. “I think it goes to the question of supervision,” he said.

The board voted unanimously to rescind the permit and said that if Degon wants to reapply, she may, but would need to provide a staffing plan and a training schedule, and submit to inspections for the first year of operation.

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