A golden dachshund puppy tragically died on her first day at a California obedience school, after she was left unsupervised with a much larger dog.
Olive was just a four-pound, nine-week-old puppy when she started her first day at Prime Paw in San Francisco.
Owner Chloe Skelly said she chose the school in the Mission district because of “rave reviews” and employees who assured her her beloved pet was in good hands.
After dropping the puppy off at school in May, she was called less than three hours later and told to go to a pet hospital immediately.
speaking to KRON4, Skelly said: ‘They didn’t tell me what happened. When I arrived at the SPCA, an employee told me that Olive had been playing with a nearly 25-pound Bernedoodle puppy, unsupervised.
Olive was just a four-pound, 9-week-old puppy when she started her first day at Prime Paw in San Francisco.
After dropping the puppy off at school in May, Skelly was called less than three hours later and told to go to a pet hospital immediately.
Skelly said the employee told him that staff didn’t know what had happened and that no one had seen it.
It wasn’t until Olive screamed in pain and crawled into a corner that they noticed her “immediate lethargy.”
He added: “When they went to see Olive, they said she wasn’t breathing and had no heartbeat or pulse.”
“After that, the employee immediately took Olive to a vet, but she had already passed away.”
An autopsy confirmed that Olive died of pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung resulting from blunt force trauma.
Skelly said this was “presumably a direct correlation with being hit by this other, much larger dog.” He said the vet also found signs of internal bleeding.
Owner Chloe Skelly (pictured) said she chose the school in the Mission District because of “rave reviews” and employees who assured her her beloved pet was in good hands.
According to Skelly, the school shared a video on its social media of Olive with a cut on her back, which she said wasn’t there when she dropped her off.
The helpless owner fully blames Prime Paw for Olive’s death and has consulted lawyers about legal action. However, since he signed a waiver, he cannot sue them.
“She was my first puppy and she should have spent more years with me,” Skelly said. ‘I only had 10 days. We were both robbed of our life together too soon.
‘I’m heartbroken that her little life was cut so short and so negligently. It’s unfair.’
In a statement to KRON4, James Baybayan, owner of Prime Paw, expressed his condolences over Olive’s sudden passing.
Baybayan said: “We are heartbroken by the tragic death of a puppy named Olive. Veterinarians discovered that Olive had a pneumothorax (a collapsed lung) but there were no signs of any trauma.
The heartbroken owner blames Prime Paw entirely for Olive’s death and shared a lengthy statement about his experience on Instagram.
“Based on the determination of the veterinarians who received Olive, there is no identifiable reason for her death.”
The company’s website describes them as a San Francisco dog training center with a positive, science-based approach.
According to Prime Paw, they have safely cared for thousands of dogs during their nine years of operation. This is the first death reported at its facilities.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Skelly said: “I would like it to be known that I don’t want to ruin this man’s life with the story being shared, all I wanted was for him to take responsibility so we can move on.”
“The story was shared to hopefully save other puppies from the same fate and other puppy parents from the same pain I’ve felt all week.”