The owners of a $3,000-plus pug dog are suing a Pasadena animal board-and-care facility, alleging their pet suffered the loss of one eye when left there in 2018 so his owners could take a trip to Hawaii.
Vincent DeRosa and Angela Nazari filed the lawsuit against K9 Loft Inc. and Alex Sabouri, described in the lawsuit as an owner and manager of the facility on Arroyo Parkway.
The lawsuit alleges fraud, breach of contract, negligence and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The suit seeks hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. The suit does not state the relationship between the plaintiffs.
A representative for K9 Loft could not be immediately reached.
DeRosa previously owned a pug, Jake, for 16 1/2 years and considered him part of his emotional support system and his family, the suit states. The dog at issue in the lawsuit, Jake2.0, was the "pick of the litter" and purchased for more than $3,000 with plans by the plaintiffs to enter him in dog shows, the suit states.
The pair had boarded the pug at K9 Loft in July 2018 and had no problems, the suit states, so they brought him back there in December when they planned a trip to Hawaii, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs like that the care center had an open-door policy that allowed patrons to inspect the facilities and watch the care of their pets via an online video system, the suit states.
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Twenty minutes after DeRosa and Nazari left and headed to the airport, they received a call from a K9 Loft employee who said that their pug suffered "cherry eye" from stress and that she would take the pet to a veterinarian, the suit states.
DeRosa and Nazari returned to K9 Loft, where the employee again assured them the dog would be seen by a veterinarian, the suit states.
However, the couple arranged for Jake2.0 to be taken instead to a veterinarian of their choice, who diagnosed the dog as having been subjected to blunt-force trauma, the suit states. The veterinarian further said the eye appeared to have been dislodged from its socket and pushed back in, according to the suit.
The veterinarian said during a subsequent visit that the dog's eye could be saved, but that the pet would likely lose vision in it, the suit states. However, the animal doctor later determined that the eye would have to be removed, the suit states.
In January of this year, Sabouri told the plaintiffs their pug was injured after being bitten by another dog, but was vague in his description about what happened, the suit states.
Sabouri initially said the plaintiffs could come to the facility and see a video of how their dog was injured, but he later refused to set a date for that to happen, according to the lawsuit.
K9 Loft also has facilities in Sherman Oaks and Echo Park, the suit states.
