TALLMADGE, Ohio – A dog owner says he raced back to Northeast Ohio from a vacation after watching his dog being kicked and dragged across the floor on a doggie day care webcam.
Mike La Salvia has left his dog, Leo, with Tails R Waggin Doggie Daycare in Tallmadge many times and has never had a problem. But on December 15, he says, he checked the day care's webcam and saw a day care worker kick Leo twice and drag him by the collar.
La Salvia immediately cut his vacation in Mexico short and spent 48 hours in airports trying to get back to Ohio.
"I haven't really slept since I saw the video," La Salvia said, describing his feelings after seeing it as "total pain."
Tails R Waggin has three franchise locations in the Akron area. Rebecca Brockmeyer is the founder and owner of the company and told WJW the same person owned the Tallmadge and Macedonia locations and that owner’s franchise agreement has been revoked.
"I am extremely sorry," Brockmeyer said. "Never in a million years did I think this would happen."
La Salvia says he plans to file a police report against the woman in the video, who did not respond to WJW's request for comment.
"When you leave your dog with those centers you just assume that they're having a great time," said La Salvia's sister, Nancy, who picked Leo up immediately after getting a call from her brother.
Brockmeyer has also issued this statement about the incident:
“I conclude my statement with a plea to the public to not group this entire company and all its amazing staff members in with one incident that none of them had any involvement in or participated in. We are working on a quick and effective resolution to ensure this never happens again at one of our facilities.”
