But owner, lawyer say family is exaggerating claim, unfairly hurting business
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
For Joanne and David Kumprey, a flawless vacation to Florida in October turned into a horror story on their way home.
On the family’s way back from Florida, an employee at Dale Creek Gundogs – where they were boarding their 2-year-old Doberman Pincher, Mojo – called the couple to find out just when they would be back.
Just what was seen when, who asked for what and even who picked up the dog from the kennel are now in dispute, as both kennel owner Tom Waite and the Kumprey family have sought legal representation for what the family is calling neglect and what the kennel officials are calling exaggeration.
The Kumpreys claim that Mojo went in for his annual physical before they left on vacation, and weighed 66.2 pounds. When they returned, he was down to just 51 pounds, and had a sore on his hind leg that may still require amputation.
The couple is claiming that Mojo was obviously neglected at the kennel, and are pursuing avenues to shut down the kennel. Mojo was finally released from veterinary care Tuesday, but the family said that the dog’s renal function was still impaired and may be permanent.
“We’re optimistic,” Joanne Kumprey said Sunday. On Tuesday, David Kumprey brought Mojo home from the Wisconsin Veterinary Referral Center in Waukesha. The dog had two legs wrapped from open sores, but appeared to be returning to normal.
“He’s eating, he’s drinking,” David said.
While the couple geared up efforts from Oct. 30 through this week to get the word out about what they felt was poor treatment by the kennel – using social media, specifically, Facebook, to spread the message – Attorney Paul Gagliardi, who represents the kennel, refuted the claims.
“These are well-trained people,” Gagliardi said of the employees at the kennel. “There’s not a person who doesn’t have a love for animals.”
Gagliardi said in an interview – and also in a cease and desist letter issued online at Dale Creek Gundog’s Facebook page, attempting to stop what he called malicious attacks against the kennel – that the dog ate heartily while the family was gone, but was “difficult” with kennel personnel.
He said also that when Mojo first arrived at the kennel, he looked “peaked.”
The views are different from the two sides of the story. Gagliardi said Joanne Kumprey came to pick up the dog, using words like “vicious” and “crazy” to describe her behavior upon seeing the dog.
“This lady is just out of line,” Gagliardi said. He also said kennel staff notified the Kumpreys immediately upon finding the open wound on Mojo’s leg, and the couple declined the option to take him to the vet.
Both Kumpreys deny this, and David said he was the one to pick up the dog, along with his two sons – Jack and Ben.
“Oh, his foot!” David recalled one of them crying. He then picked up Mojo, and admittedly “freaked out” at how light the dog felt.
“I go, ‘what the hell did you do to my dog?’” he remembered. “’I’m going to shut this place down.’”
Gagliardi said dogs often develop “hot spots” while in a kennel, and that the dog didn’t look anywhere near as bad as he apparently did in the photos the couple has shared. He said also that he had taken those photos to a vet, who said that kind of condition – Mojo looks emaciated in one photo, and curled in a ball – could not develop “from negligence in 10 days,” and suspected something else could be at fault.
Gagliardi also pointed out that the kennel is fully licensed and insured, and would have no problem standing up to care for the animal if the situation were their fault.
In the meantime, the kennel’s Facebook page has been inundated by people calling out the kennel for mistreatment of the dog. In response, clients of Dale Creek Gundogs are saying they are more than satisfied with the service they have received and that their dogs are fine.
Gagliardi said that time would prove which side was correct, but in the meantime, the Kumpreys’ attacks were uncalled for.
“This lady went off the deep end,” he said.
The Kumpreys are claiming their vet – and staff at WVRC – told them a systemic infection that resulted from Mojo’s initial wound could have easily resulted in the weight loss.
They are also upset that, in the time they were on vacation (from Oct. 18-30), they received just the one phone call indicating anything was wrong. Other than that, they were contacted on the way home to confirm when they would be coming to pick up the dog.
“We want what’s right for Mojo,” Joanne Kumprey said.
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