After The Herald Journal published a story Tuesday about the fate of more than 30 dogs belonging to the residents of a Cache Valley home that exploded on March 9, the family reached out to recount the events from their perspective.
The morning after the disaster killed his dad and left his mom and brother in the hospital, Jeremy Mullin said he and his fiancé arrived at the scene worried about the dogs he knew remained in a building adjacent to where the home had stood — a structure he said his family had deemed the pug house.
“We were concerned about the dogs,” he said. “Her and I were denied entry to make sure the dogs were fed and watered correctly.”
On Monday, the Cache County Sheriff’s Office — which has contracted to double as the valley’s animal control — told The Herald Journal it maintained the scene of the explosion through the day after it occurred.
Though Mullin said he pressed the issue, he was not allowed to check on the dogs, but was assured an officer took care of the task.
It wasn’t until later that night when the sheriff’s office informed Mullin he could enter his parents’ property to check on the pugs.
“Some of them had no food, some of them had no water, some of them had defecated in their food and/or urinated in their water,” he said. “I think the guy from animal control just went in there and just looked and said, ‘Oh yeah, you got food and water, yep I’m done.’”
Mullin also expressed dismay over losing the husbandry after the family eventually decided they would relinquish ownership of the dogs. Though he understands Utah law prevents shelters from housing unfixed dogs, he wished there was a legal stipulation for cases such as his parents’ catastrophic situation.
“This was my mom and dad’s business. They bred and sold purebred pugs across this country,” he said. “It’s going to be a very hard financial burden for the family. … There’s 30 dogs and some of them were $5,000 apiece, so we’re looking at quite a substantial loss.”
Mullin also expressed his displeasure in the county’s treatment of the dogs it recovered from the ruined home, wondering if they actually did call a vet.
“I would like to see what their vet reports were,” he said. “Putting a dog in a kennel for five days without getting veterinarian checked over and not having them see a vet, that’s hinging on animal cruelty.”
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