A dog owner has been left "devastated" after their beloved Yorkie died following an escape from a pet day care centre.
Matthew Norwood’s Yorkshire Terrier, Bobby, was fatally injured on a dual carriageway as the family formed a desperate search party to find their missing dog, reports Belfast Live.
He says he later discovered that the boarding centre was "patched up with chicken wire and sheep fencing and is not secure" - and claims he never would've allowed his dog to stay there without a lead had he known.
Matthew, from Co Antrim in Northern Ireland, received a phone call Gillian Bell, owner of Country Clip Dog Grooming & Day Care, to tell him little dog had vanished from their field during exercise time on February 1.
He says he rushed to the area soon afterwards and called his wife, parents and friends to come and help in his search, which lasted for more than two hours until it became too dark to continue.
Matthew also got in touch with the Lost Paws NI charity, who he says were "brilliant".
At 7.40pm, he received a call from a driver who had knocked down and killed Bobby on the dual carriageway.
Speaking of the sad moment he found out what had happened: "He said he left his body under a crash barrier so we could collect him. We were absolutely devastated. I had to call my wife who was tramping through fields while pregnant looking for Bobby, and I had to let her know the search was over, our wee man was dead.
"I think it was the worst phone call I’ve had to make. But we still had to find him and bring him home. We didn’t want him lying out there, he’d never spent a night on his own in his life and we didn’t want this to be the first.
"But despite searching the road for another two hours, we couldn’t find Bobby’s body and we were forced to call off the search as it was getting dark and dangerous."
The owner of the day care then called him at 11pm after a family member shared news of Bobby's death - but he says he "was in no fit state to take the call."
He says the "whole family is absolutely devastated" as Bobby "meant so much to us all", and shared that the family had been preparing him for the arrival of their new baby.
Matthew said: “I feel so guilty about taking him to that day care. We were both working and wanted him to spend that day with other dogs rather than be on his own in our house.
"The hole that has been left in our home and in our lives is hard to explain. We are bereft and I am angry that this whole situation was avoidable."
The upset dog owner has also taken aim at the day care, saying the family "trusted the business to look after our dog and they failed us" and that they had received no further apology following the initial contact.
While trying to make sense of what happened to Bobby, Matthew discovered that Northern Ireland has no rules or regulations about setting up or running home boarding facilities.
He has since called for these laws to be rolled out to all parts of the UK, as there is currently "no way for me to hold the business to account for Bobby’s escape and subsequent death".
Gillian Bell, proprietor of Country Clip Dog Grooming & Day Care, told Belfast Live that she still does not know how the little dog escaped and that Matthew and his wife were told the field area was not "100% secure".
She said in a statement: “Bobby was on his lead until we got through the double security gates.
"All owners who bring their dog to Country Club are made aware that I have a 100% secure area for their dog when in my care. But I also have a field that we have as secure as we can with chicken wire but we cannot say it’s 100% secure. If my clients are happy for their dog to be off their lead, that’s their own choice.
“Both Mr and Mrs Norwood were made aware of this the first time that they left Bobby. They agreed that Bobby could go into the field off his lead. It’s just unfortunate that he got away.
She said she had been taking photographs of the dogs at the time when she looked around and saw Bobby missing, leading her to start calling his name while her son and husband stayed with the other dogs.
Gillian said one of her customers had reported seeing "a wee Yorkie in the village", and had stopped and tried to get him but he ran off. She drove to the location herself soon afterwards to try and track him down.
She went on to say: “I have owned Country Club for nine years and have had hundreds of dogs through my doors and each one of them is cared for to the best of my ability and I will continue with my setup.
“Now I ask each owner to sign a document stating whether they want their dog to be kept in my 100% secure area or are happy for them to be off-lead in my field.
“I have business insurance but I do not hold a licence for day care as they do not exist in Northern Ireland. I am sorry Mr and Mrs Norwood have had to deal with the terrible loss of Bobby in this way and I am totally devastated that they felt I haven’t apologised enough.
