BC Canine Training Centre Accused Of Neglect And Abuse But Takes No Responsibility, According To Drogo's Owner Paul Bhullar!

Paul Bhullar, a member of the large Bhullar wrestling clan of Richmond who owns an Italian mastiff named Drogo, has filed a neglect complaint with the B.C. SPCA against the BC Canine Training Centre, which also had an earlier complaint filed but it seemed like the SPCA didn't take any action at the time but are supposedly investigating now.

By PD Raj

with News Files

RICHMOND – An Indo-Canadian dog owner was left concerned for his favourite pet and a big vet bill after he left his dog with food for a two week training session at the BC Canine Training Centre at the foot of No. 3 Road, near Dyke Road.

Paul Bhullar, a member of the large Bhullar wrestling clan of Richmond who owns an Italian mastiff named Drogo, has filed a neglect complaint with the B.C. SPCA against the BC Canine Training Centre, which also had an earlier complaint filed but it seemed like the SPCA didn't take any action at the time but are supposedly investigating now.

"When I dropped off Drogo I had also dropped off food for him. But when I picked him up after two weeks, the food was finished and when I asked when it finished they said "right now" which is highly unlikely as there was no way I had left enough food for two weeks," Bhullar told the DESIBUZZbc. 

"And I had specifically asked them to call me if they were running low. They also said that they do "hourly checks" -if that was the case why didn't I receive a call exactly when my food finished," he asked

Bhullar decided to speak out after reading media reports recently about another owner who alleged his dog was neglected and starved during a three-week stay at the BC Canine Training Centre.

Bhullar told Richmond News he phoned the kennel every few days of his six-month-old Italian mastiff Drogo’s two-week stint of in-board training at BC Canine at the end of December.

He said he was told that everything was “going well;” but when he arrived to pick Drogo up at the end of his two weeks, Bhullar said he was “shocked” to see the bones of his dog’s ribs.

After expressing his concern with kennel staff at the time of picking up Drogo, he was told that it was “normal,” given the change in the dog’s environment and that Drogo had been eating his food.

When Drogo, however, did nothing but sleep, vomit and pass diarrhoea during his first day back at the family’s No. 5 Road home, Bhullar took his pet to an animal hospital in Vancouver.

When Drogo, however, did nothing but sleep, vomit and pass diarrhoea during his first day back at the family’s No. 5 Road home, Bhullar took his pet to the Atlas Animal Hospital run by the legendary veterinarian Dr. Hakam Bhullar in Vancouver.

And after being assessed by Dr. Bhullar's clinic, Drogo was put on an I.V. before x-rays showed an obstruction in his stomach.

“The vet said Drogo was severely dehydrated and I needed to find out what had happened at the kennel,” said Paul Bhullar.

 “There was no accountability, no concern. I just wanted to know what had happened. He said ‘show me the vet records and then we’ll talk.’”

The vet told Bhullar he could either do surgery to remove the object from Drogo’s stomach or wait until he vomited it or passed it.

“He said he would hate to do unnecessary surgery on such a young dog that had lost so much weight,” explained Bhullar.

“He estimated, given the weight loss, that Drogo had to have swallowed the object four or five days earlier.”

Thankfully, Drogo passed the object, although, given the number of bowel movements, staff couldn’t determine what the object was.

“Almost straight away, he was eating again,” said a relieved Bhullar.

In the days and weeks after getting Drogo home, Bhullar said he has repeatedly tried to contact BC Canine via email and the phone, with no response.

"I find this disgusting that your facility would let an innocent animal suffer and then lie about the whole situation, and attempt to fabricate a lie because this poor animal doesn’t have the verbal ability to communicate what had happened to him and to tell anyone that he was sick. I feel like my dog under your care was neglected and it was extremely unprofessional not to take Drogo to the vet ASAP when you noticed that he was low energy and appeared unwell," a very frustrated Bhullar wrote in a letter to the Canine Centre.

Vet records from Atlas Animal Hospital made available to DESIBUZZbc confirm Drogo was treated with IV fluids, taken in for X-rays, and hospitalized overnight for care. The likely diagnosis was that the puppy had swallowed a foreign object that was stuck in the small intestine, according to the veterinary documents.

The vet bill came to a total of $947.

“I was advised to at least get the vet bills paid and refunded the kennel fees ($775),” said Bhullar.

Bhullar said he initially only wanted an apology from BC Canine but that after multiple ignored calls and unreturned emails, he now plans to take legal action against the company.

Marcie Moriarty, BC SPCA’s chief prevention and enforcement officer (not known if she is related to BC Canine Centre owner Phil Moriarty), told the Richmond News that, prior to both complaints, there has been “no investigation of BC Canine.”

After the first complaint at the end of January the B.C. SPCA has “received subsequent calls,” said Moriarty.

“Any complaint we receive is fully investigated.”

Moriarty said Bhullar’s complaint has been assigned to an SPCA officer.

Repeated calls to reach Phil Moriarty at BC Canine by various media outlets have gone unanswered.