Dog dies after Sugar Land boarders leave him outside in 100-degree heat
SUGAR LAND, Texas - Bentley, a 2-year-old French Bulldog, died from heatstroke after being left outside at a Sugar Land boarding facility, according to vet records.
His owners, Kira and James Melbert, dropped Bentley off at PetSuites in Sugar Land on a Friday to go out of town for their 14th anniversary.
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They say they were on a plane back on August 20 when they started receiving text messages about Bentley, first from PetSuites, then from an animal hospital.
They say the vet texted them saying they were trying to revive Bentley, then sent another message letting them know he had passed.
"When I saw the heat stroke - I didn't even read the whole message, it was pieces of it. I just dropped my phone because it was unbelievable," said Kira.
The vet records from that day relay that Bentley was left outside for nearly an hour. Our weather records show the high was 101 degrees in Sugar Land.
The record reads: "Bentley was outside for potty walks (doesn't know how long he was out) staff member took him out around 5:30 p.m. then clocked out. He was found around 6:25 PM by staff member and was lateral/collapsed in second potty run, then Bentley flipped on to stomach, and was heavily panting. Different pet suite employee grabbed cold towel and placed on him for two minutes while trying to get a hold of manager. Headed to vet express. They were closed and then headed to VEG."
VEG is the vet that pronounced Bentley deceased from heat stroke.
"The part that's astounding is that they just left him outside," said James.
Texas dog lawyer Zandra Anderson is helping advise the Melbert's on this process.
"When he arrived at the vet clinic, his body temperature could not be read on a thermometer for dogs. That means it was in excess of 109 degrees - off the scale and not readable," said Anderson.
The Melbert's say PetSuites apologized to them when they came to pick up his leash and collar, but haven't been in contact since.
"We haven't heard anything from them, no emails, no texts, no phone calls," said James.
PetSuites responded to our interview request with this statement:
Our top priority at PetSuites Sugar Land is the health, safety, and happiness of our pets. We are devastated by the recent passing of one of our guests and our hearts go out to the family involved. Heat is a constant consideration for our staff, and the team is trained to identify signs of heat stroke or exhaustion, and how to respond in an emergency. Our goal will always be to provide our guests with the best possible care, and we are reviewing this incident carefully.
The Melbert's say they want to see some action taken to prevent this from happening to more dog owners.
"We honestly don't want this to happen to anyone else, this is a tough feeling," said Kira.