**Warning: The video shown in this story is graphic, and may be considered disturbing**
MURRAY, Utah - Former Ute coach Ron McBride's family dog died when two dogs attacked the animal at a pet boarding facility in Murray.
Now the family is working to make sure no one else has to go through this heartache.
On May 1, the McBrides were having a wedding at their home and worried their dogs would get out with so many people coming through the door. They took their three dogs to Unleashed Dog Hotel, but an hour before the wedding, they got a text.
“I get a text saying, 'Call me at your earliest convenience,'" said Mark Redican, who dropped the dogs off at the dog hotel earlier that day.
Redican immediately called, but wasn’t prepared for what they were about to tell him.
“[They said] 'We had a terrible accident; Christa was attacked and killed by two dogs,'” Redican said.
Christa was the McBride family's 10-year-old German shepherd.
“My daughter was borderline hysterical,” said Vicky McBride.
When the family found out the details of what happened, they were shocked.
“Unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable,” Ron McBride said.
McBride said Christa was asleep when employees at the dog hotel let in two dogs that were known to be aggressive.
“They found her and mauled her to death,” Vicky McBride said.
Surveillance video shows the horrific moments.
“I’m telling you it was brutal," Ron McBride said. "It was vicious."
“It's 15 minutes of just pure hell for Christa,” Redican said.
After the incident, Unleashed Dog Hotel wrote on Facebook:
"We are heartbroken and grieve with the Redican family over the loss of their beloved Christa. While the circumstances leading up to the incident were unforeseeable and unexpected we are responsible for an irreparable loss.
We have expressed our apologies and our condolences to the family and have taken measures to ensure this will never happen again.
First, we closed off the crawl space where Christa hid herself. Dogs will no longer be able to enter spaces that are out of sight of supervision.
Second, we have adjusted our daily play schedule to better balance and monitor play groups. We’ve added a nap-time (or a calming period) for all the dogs to help moderate the energy when they go out and play.
Third, we’ve created additional training for our entire staff that is being implemented. Part of this includes hourly head counts.
Fourth, we have changed our policy on special dogs. Any dog with a history of dog aggression will no longer be able to stay with us.
We are devastated by this incident but know our devastation pales in comparison to what Christa’s family is going through. Our hearts go out to them and we have recommitted to the task we have before us; atoning for the loss of Christa and better serving our current customers.
Our motto has always been that, “dogs are people too” and we hope that these measures we’ve taken will reassure you that providing a safe environment for your dog is still our top priority.
Sincerely,Unleashed Dog Hotel"
“I knew this was going to happen. I knew eventually there would be a death there,” said Kali Grimm, a professional dog trainer.
Grimm said she worked with the owner and employees at Unleashed Dog Hotel back in 2015.
“I was hired to train the staff to handle dogs appropriately, put safety plans in place in case anything happened,” Grimm said.
She claims they didn't take the right steps to ensure dog safety.
“You can tell these other dogs, just by their body language, it could have been stopped," Grimm said. "Even if there was another employee who opened the door as this was happening, it easily could have been prevented."
In response to Grimm's statement, Unleashed Dog Hotel released the following:
"Kali would not have any information on any current unleashed training, processes, or procedures. Any information she had would be completely inaccurate and speculative in application to the current state of Unleashed. Any contact with Unleashed was briefly during 2015 and limited."
In the police report is a copy of the application for boarding from the owner of the two dogs that attacked. In the boarding/daycare instructions he wrote: “I think they probably should not be together with other dogs or else they might gang up on someone.”
West Jordan Animal services is investigating the incident, as they handle cases in Murray. But by Utah code, no law has been broken.
The McBride family hopes to change the law so dogs are not treated like property and families can have justice in these types of situations.
