Edgemont Resident Files Complaint Against Putnam Valley Dog Boarding Facility

Here is a follow-up to our story about Edgemont resident’s Susy Kahn’s loss of her family dog Coco at a boarding facility in Putnam Valley. The following information was provided by Ms. Kahn’s press consultant Nina Reeves: Susan Kahn has filed a complaint in Supreme Court in Westchester County against The D.O.G. dog boarding and training facility and Joanne Willard and Trever Willard concerning the death of Kahn’s dog Coco, while she was at the D.O.G. facility.

The complaint alleges that on March 15, Ms. Kahn sent Coco, a 6 year-old, 17 lb. Cockapoo to board with The D.O.G. which is reputed to be a “top-of-the-line” dog training and boarding facility in Putnam Valley owned and operated by Joanne Willard. Willard claims to be a specialist in anxiety, fear and other behavioral issues. Coco was to be boarded for a 3-week program recommended by Joanne to comfortably acclimate Coco to other dogs, as she tended to be fearful and intimidated by them. The owners of the facility made the decision to socialize Coco, who was not accustomed to being off-leash with other dogs, by putting her in a room with several dogs, including a 40 lb. pitbull mix who aggressively attacked Coco. Coco was dropped off at a local veterinary hospital which did not have specialists present to deal with Coco’s injuries; Kahn’s husband had Coco transferred by ambulance to the Animal Medical Center in NYC in an attempt to save Coco’s life. Despite life- saving measures, Coco died several hours later, after enduring pain and trauma. Autopsy results show multiple bodily injuries including skull fractures and brain damage so severe that her brain had ultimately stopped signaling the heart to beat. Under the care of a trainer who claims to be experienced in “behavior modification for issues like anxiety, fear and aggression...as well as temperament testing”, Coco should never have been mauled to death by another dog.

The complaint further alleges that the trainer, who advertises herself as an experienced certified dog trainer, refuses to accept responsibility for Coco’s death. Soon after attacking Coco, the same dog, according to a violation issued by Putnam Valley Animal Control “bit, chased, jumped upon or otherwise harassed any person in such manner as to cause intimidation or put such person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm.” The person involved in this incident was a child, who was grabbed.

The owners of the boarding facility state on their website that they only take dogs which they have personally trained - they had not personally trained the Kahn’s dog before, but were happy to change their policy when a substantial training and boarding fee was available. The complaint further alleges that Joanne Willard does not have an operating permit to operate her business out of the kennel where she boards the dogs.

Asked for a comment, Joanne Willard of The D.O.G. provided the following statement to Scarsdale10583.com.

“Our hearts go out to Susan Kahn and her children on the tragic loss of their family dog Coco. This tragic death occurred while their pet was in our care. We feel an intense sense of responsibility for what happened. We are terribly sorry that this occurred. In the coming days, we will make every effort to help the Kahn family deal with their grief and suffering. We have carefully studied what happened and have taken important steps to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”