A note from all of us at Dog Utopia

We pride ourselves in our level of care and service, and that includes accountability.
You may have seen our posts about Kyle, the dog that went missing a few days ago. I’m happy to inform you that he is reunited with his family, and we are all breathing big sighs of relief. Throughout this ordeal, his safe return home has been our only priority.

It now feels appropriate to take the time to address comments that have been made about us on social media. It is true that Kyle went missing from our facility. This happened through a series of actions and decisions made by an ex-team member, a grooming assistant. The actions were in complete violation of all of our policies and procedures, and everything she has been taught both here and at grooming school. She was immediately terminated after Kyle was lost.

We know that being asked to care for people’s beloved pets is an incredible responsibility, and we treat it as such. Unfortunately this grooming assistant did not share our values as much as we were led to believe. We cancelled all our appointments for days so we could be out searching, were out at all hours and employed Petsearchers Canada to try to locate him. Just like we did our very best to find Kyle, we will do our very best to ensure what happened to him does not happen again.

It seems inevitable on social media that responses turn to outrage, rumour, and retaliation. It is incredibly hurtful, especially for those who don’t know us or aren’t familiar with the situation. Kyle’s story was an upsetting one and we understand that people respond with emotion – but please take a moment before posting a negative comment and remember that there are thinking, feeling, breathing human beings on the other side of the screen. If they are already hurting, these kinds of comments are absolutely devastating.

We have, and will continue to, take responsibility for what happened. If you have any concerns about what happened or steps we are taking in light of the last few days, please don’t hesitate to talk to us directly.