Dogs Manhandled, Crated in the Sun Without Water, Muzzles Tied Shut at Kennel

PETA Searches for Families of Dogs Shown Being Yanked and Jabbed in Video Footage Taken Inside Tampa Dog Boarding and Training Facility

For Immediate Release:
October 5, 2016

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

PETA wants Tampa-area residents to watch new video footage of Inghram’s Sit ‘N Stay Dog Academy—which shows workers wrapping leashes tightly around terrified dogs’ snouts, wrestling scared dogs, yanking and hoisting them off the floor by their leashes, and jabbing a crated dog with a broom in an apparent attempt to stop the dog from barking, among other incidents. PETA hopes viewers who recognize their dogs—and all who consider boarding their animals—will learn easy steps to take when selecting a boarding or training facility.

The video also reveals that some dogs were left in barren metal crates with no water—including outside in the sun for nearly two hours as the heat index climbed to 105°F. The video shows dogs drinking continuously for up to two minutes when offered water.

“PETA hopes guardians who entrust their beloved dogs to strangers will watch this video and think carefully about the trust that their animals place in them as well as the trust that they place in others,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “It shows why the safest place for any dog is with a vouched-for and reliable sitter at home—and why guardians who must board their dogs need to tour the facility, watch training sessions in progress, and ask hard questions about its practices.”

PETA found the following at Inghram’s Sit ‘N Stay Dog Academy:

• Workers threw and banged metal bowls against cages and sinks in an apparent attempt to intimidate dogs or silence those who barked.
• Some dogs escaped from crates and fought, injuring one another.
• Workers failed to dispense prescription medication and food that dogs’ guardians had provided.
• A supervisor administered a prescription medication to dogs believed to have hookworms—without having a veterinarian examine them, without the guardians’ knowledge, and despite the inappropriateness of the medicine as a hookworm treatment.
• Workers wearing respirator masks sprayed the floors with bleach and chemicals as dogs—whose sense of smell is up to 1,000 times more sensitive than humans’—were caged nearby, unable to escape the fumes.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—notes that the best “boarding” for a dog is with a trusted sitter in the animal’s own home and offers tips for finding a reputable sitter here.

Broadcast-quality eyewitness video footage is available. For more information, please visit PETA.org.