WINDSOR LOCKS — An investigation has determined there was no criminal wrongdoing in the death of a dog in a kennel last month.
This follow-up took FOX61 to Agawam, Massachusetts.
It’s where the Rodriguez family use to bring their beloved furry family member "Peanut" to play.
It’s also where we sat down with them after the Windsor Locks Police Department investigation did not find any criminal wrongdoing by the Flying Fur doggy daycare.
We asked Peanut’s owner, Ana Rodriguez, “Has there been any closure?”
“There has not,” she said. “We’ve been met with nothing but unanswered questions.” Her husband Arturo continued, “I don’t think we are ever going to get any answers and I don’t ever think we are going to get any closure.”
Ana and Arturo Rodriguez are clearly still grieving the loss of Peanut. While visiting a sick loved one in July, they boarded Peanut at the Flying Fur in Windsor Locks and came home to an urn of ashes.
They were never notified their dog was attacked and killed.
“No protocol for the aftermath,” stated the Flying Fur to police. “Tragic as it is, it just doesn’t fit the statute for criminal enforcement,” explains Windsor Locks Police Lt. Paul Cherniack.
With no animal cruelty laws violated, FOX61 looked for laws regulating boarding facility operations in general. We couldn’t find any.
“Sometimes it’s judgement calls or rules and regs that are made by the kennels themselves, if they have any,” said Lt. Cherniack.
The incident report did reveal discrepancies in witness interviews. The Flying Fur originally saying eight pound Peanut was attacked by a terrier “not much bigger” than Peanut. It was actually a 40 pound pit bull mix.
Police were also initially told the dogs were supervised outside where the attack occurred. They later discovered they were not.
And then there’s the vet letters by Dr. Larry Pennington of Windsor Animal Clinic.
He identified Peanut’s body, a male chihuahua, as a female Jack Russel.
“I was trying to do this from recollection. The owner wanted a letter submitted confirming that I had identified a deceased dog and I just got it wrong,” said Dr. Pennington.
He described holes and wounds across Peanut’s entire thorax.
“I could see chest wounds on him and there was blood noted on the body,” he said. The Flying Fur cited one bite to the back of the neck.
“If we get another dog it will be special, we love animals. But Peanut will always hold a place in our heart that can’t be filled,” said Arturo.
Police called it “unclear” why the Flying Fur reported incorrect circumstances.
“When I see his pictures it triggers anxiety and stress. I feel such a heavy a heavy sense of guilt for having left him in the care of those strangers,” said Ana.
FOX61 has been talking for weeks with Flying Fur co-owner Alexa Brengi.
After agreeing to do an interview, she rescheduled several times — saying she wasn’t comfortable until after the completion of a separate investigation by the State Department of Agriculture set for October 22nd.