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McBride family sues dog hotel in Murray after beloved pet killed by aggressive animals

Posted at 1:18 PM, Oct 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-17 15:19:42-04

SALT LAKE CITY — Former Ute football coach Ron McBride and his family are suing a pet boarding facility in Murray after their beloved dog was killed by two other animals.

Surveillance video shows the attack in May at Unleashed Dog Hotel, and the family’s dog “Christa” was killed.

According to court documents filed Tuesday, the McBride family is suing Unleashed Dog Hotel for what they call negligence, gross negligence, negligent misrepresentation, intentional misrepresentation and breach of contract.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for the costs of the dog’s death and replacement, and for actual damages “for the unique and peculiar special value of Christa” along with damages for emotional distress as well as exemplary and punitive damages. The lawsuit also seeks to recoup any court costs associated with the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states Unleashed Dog Hotel advertised themselves as a place that cares for pets with “highly trained staff” and included assurances dogs boarded with them would never be left alone.

The lawsuit states the McBrides relied on these statements when choosing a boarding facility but states Christa was left alone by staff in a play area after several other dogs were taken elsewhere.

An employee then unleashed two other dogs into that area, where Christa was sleeping. The lawsuit states the owner of those dogs had told the facility the animals were aggressive and had “ganged up” on other dogs before.

The three dogs were left unsupervised in that area for about 35 minutes, during which time the video from the facility shows the dogs attacking and killing Christa. The lawsuit states Christa “suffered a brutal attack for 15 minutes before she was killed” while in an area with no escape route.

In a statement posted on Facebook after the initial incident, Unleashed Dog Hotel apologized for what they called “unforeseeable and unexpected” circumstances.

Fox 13 News has reached out to Unleashed Dog Hotel for a response to the lawsuit and will update this story as more details emerge.

Warning: This video contains raw footage of an animal attack. Viewer discretion is advised.