A family has been left grieving their two-year-old pet dog who died suddenly while in the care of a licensed boarders during a heatwave. Poppy the golden doodle was “happy and healthy” the day she was dropped off at Tailz n Trailz in Cottingham, according to her owners. But disaster struck just a few hours later when Poppy was rushed to the vets – and pronounced dead on arrival.
Now distraught owners Georgia and Tom Baxter are left heartbroken and wondering what could have happened to their “second child” Poppy that caused her to lose her life so suddenly. An investigation by East Riding of Yorkshire Council ’s licensing team concluded that while “some concerns regarding the processes in place the day Poppy boarded with the business” were found, “we have been unable to establish that these concerns caused or contributed to Poppy’s passing”.
The business’ star rating has been reduced from five to two as a result. Georgia said: “She was just the best thing you’ve ever met in your whole life. We only have our little boy and she was like a second child. It took my husband two years to convince me to get her and she was just the best thing that’s ever happened to me, aside from my son. She was like a teddy bear and great with our boy. Because he doesn’t have any human siblings, he called her his sister. She was the best.”
The couple dropped Poppy off at Tailz n Trailz, on Park Lane, Cottingham, on the morning of June 19, before heading to Manchester for a concert. Their son was being cared for elsewhere. Georgia says it was a very hot day in the middle of a heatwave, and it was found that Poppy’s core temperature was higher than normal, even after she had passed away. A vet letter confirmed Poppy was “extremely hyperthermic when she was presented to the veterinary practice, even after she was already deceased”.
Georgia explained what happened that day. “My husband took her to Tailz n Trailz in the morning,” she said. “We’d used them before, they’d been walking her since she was about 13 weeks old. He dropped her at 7.45am and we set off to Manchester.” At about 2.20pm the couple were shopping in the Arndale Centre when Georgia’s phone started ringing. When she answered the private number, it was one of the owners of Tailz n Trailz.
“I thought ‘that’s weird, they’ve never rung me before’. She said her mum has just got home and she has found Poppy, and she was stumbling and saying ‘I don’t know how to say it. We think she’s dead’. I said: ‘We dropped her off five hours ago, you’ve made a mistake’.”
But the business called Georgia back around 20 minutes later to say she had been taken to the vet, who had confirmed Poppy had passed away. “She was extremely hot, that’s all they’d tell us,” Georgia said. The couple were offered a post mortem to be carried out on Poppy, but were told it would have been their responsibility to store Poppy’s body at exactly the right temperature over the weekend, until the procedure could be carried out, something which Georgia said would have been impossible.
“We picked her up and took her to our vets. They said they could do a CT scan of her body, but it would not confirm heat stroke, and a post mortem would be irrelevant. The couple later got the report from their own vet, who had been communicating with the vet that Poppy was originally taken to. “That’s when we read the line that her temperature was above the range of the thermometer,” Georgia said. “It wasn’t just a tragic accident, it should never have happened.”
A vet report from Kingston Vets in Cottingham shared with Hull Live said Poppy’s “rectal temperature was above range of thermometer” and that the reason for “hyperthermia of that level would be post seizure or heat stroke”. The report goes on to say: “Carer reports dog was indoors in a bedroom with a fan today. Outside temperatures today approx 30 degrees.”
The couple requested a thorough statement of events from Tailz n Trailz and that’s when they discovered that Poppy had been left in the house with other dogs for several hours before she was found. The statement provided to the Baxters said one of the workers left the house at 10.47am and another worker did not enter the house again until 2.15pm. The statement says Poppy was seen on CCTV footage in this three-and-a-half hour period moving around the house with the other dogs. But at 2.26pm, Tailz n Trailz’ statement says that a worker “found her lying on the sofa in her bedroom” and was “trying to get Poppy to respond before soon realising she was unresponsive”. At 2.35pm, according to the statement provided to the Baxters, Poppy was declared by Kingston Vets to be deceased.
Georgia said she was unaware that Poppy was being left for so long while under Tailz n Trailz’s care. “We are baffled by it,” she said.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council ’s licensing team carried out an investigation following the incident. An email from the council’s licensing team was sent to Georgia on Monday 17 August, saying that while “some concerns regarding the processes in place the day Poppy boarded with the business” were found, “we have been unable to establish that these concerns caused or contributed to Poppy’s passing”.
The email continues: “Following our investigation, it has been concluded that the business no longer meets the standards required to retain its 5-star rating. As a result, the business has been reassessed as a 2-star rated establishment. This means that it will be subject to more frequent inspections during the term of their licence.”
A statement from an East Riding of Yorkshire Council spokesperson said: “The Council’s licensing team abide by national regulations set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), for dog boarders. Following a complaint about a dog boarder, council officers will inspect the premises, to determine whether any breach of its licence conditions have occurred and if any further action is required. Officers also examine whether it can be determined if breaches contributed towards any reported incidents.
“In this case, we were unable to evidence that the dog’s death was a result of the home boarders’ actions. However, the council has reduced the star rating of the dog boarder from five star to two star, after identifying some areas of concern. A reduction in star rating would move a boarder to a higher risk category which mandates more frequent inspections and a licence renewal every twelve months. This decision is consistent with the DEFRA national Regulations and supporting guidance.”
Georgia and Tom are questioning whether the business should be able to continue to operate. “We expected it would take some time,” Georgia said. “Nobody wants to just close a business down. We didn’t think they’d just reduce the number of stars they had. The majority of people don’t know they have stars at all, they are either licensed or they are not.”
She said the business owners “have not looked me in the eye since that day” and have posted a key for the Baxter’s property back through their letter box. “It feels like it shouldn’t be this hard. I imagine most people would’ve just given up. She was so special to me, I don’t want to feel like anyone should feel the way I felt that day. And also I could never get a dog again.”
Tailz n Trailz did not respond when approached for comment by Hull Live.
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