Owner furious after her Shih Tzu loses an EYE while at doggy day care

A DOG lover is furious after her Shih Tzu lost an eye while at day care.

Vets told Cheryl Ratcliffe that pet Coco was probably savaged by another mutt.

But City Paws Club say his left eye simply “fell out”.

Owner Cheryl, 36, has accused the firm of lying and poor care.

She said: “Coco is my baby and I trusted them to look after him.

“Not only did they let him lose an eye, they tried to cover it up with a ludicrous excuse.”

Other dogs have escaped or killed by traffic while entrusted to the club, which unlike kennels and catteries does not require a licence to run.

Cheryl raced back from her job in the City of London after the firm’s boss Matt Boyce rang to say something had happened to ten-year-old Coco.

'IT JUST FELL OUT'

She said: “Staff said they didn’t see anything. Coco’s eye was bleeding and just hanging out.”

Vets had to remove the eye. A report from the clinic, seen by The Sun, states the injury “could be consistent with trauma from another dog”.

Cheryl claims Coco’s vet rang to say that Mr Boyce had asked for the dog’s medical records.

She added: “It’s outrageous. I think he wanted to see the report so he can try and cover his back. He should not be operating a business. There has been no discussion of compensation.

“Little Coco is traumatised. He just hasn’t been the same since.”

She claims Mr Boyce was on holiday at the time of the incident and staff called him first instead of trying to call her.

She fumed: “I can’t help but think that if they had called me first and I had got Coco to the vet sooner something could have been done about his eye.”

COCO IS 'TRAUMATISED'

Last year Andrea Pothier, 36, and partner Ivor O’Toole, 45, left five-month-old labradoodle Ghost with City Paws Club, based in Richmond, South West London.

The pup ran off and was found dead by a road ten days later.

Hannah Faulkner, 31, entrusted her 18-month-old jackpoo Tilly last June. Tilly wriggled free, was hit by a car and died.

An ex-employee claimed: “City Paws Club isn’t inherently a bad place. The staff care so much for the pets but incidents happen because of the pressure Matt puts on them. He never says no to a client regardless of whether there is space for the dog or not.”

Mr Boyce said of Coco: “It’s not true. We have had other vets saying it could have been another factor.

There is no evidence to suggest otherwise. The allegations are unfair and unfounded.”

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