Camp Canine, a dog daycare and boarding facility on Santa Barbara’s Eastside, has temporarily suspended daycare operations after Bruce, a 1-year-old English bulldog, drowned in one of the facility’s pools on Thursday. 

“There are no words that can fully express the heartbreak we feel following the tragic loss of a beloved dog while in our care earlier this week,” Camp Canine General Manager Jayne Sigman said in a statement posted to Instagram on Saturday.

“A family entrusted us with a cherished member of their family, and they are now living with an unimaginable loss because we failed in our responsibility to keep their dog safe.

“We are profoundly sorry. Our hearts are with them as they grieve, and we know that no words can lessen the pain they are experiencing.” 

Sigman said Camp Canine is conducting a comprehensive review of the facility, its safety procedures, and the emergency response protocols to “ensure a tragedy like this never happens again.” 

Camp Canine, at 803 E. Montecito St., will continue to host dogs that are already boarding with the facility, she said. 

In response to additional inquiries, Sigman said it has been an “incredibly heartbreaking week for everyone at Camp Canine” and referred Noozhawk to the statement released on social media.

Bruce belonged to Chris and Ashley Merz of Ventura, according to Alison Genet, Ashley’s mother, who spoke to Noozhawk. Ashley is the owner of Santa Barbara Hair Co. in downtown Santa Barbara.

Chris and Ashley were not available for comment. Alison said her daughter was “inconsolable.” 

Bruce had attended and trained at Camp Canine for the past six months.

Alison said Chris went to the daycare at around 3:30 p.m. to pick up Bruce.

When he arrived, he was told by Camp Canine’s owners that Bruce had drowned and was shown the dog’s body in a plastic tub in the back of a car, per Alison.

That moment was captured on video by what appears to be another Camp Canine patron.

The police told the family he drowned sometime between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., Alison said.

Camp Canine has yards for small dogs, medium dogs and large dogs, Alison said. The large yard has two unfenced pools. 

Bruce would typically be placed with small or medium dogs because of his size, she explained. 

Camp Canine owners told the family that Bruce wasn’t supposed to be in the large yard, which is where he passed away, Alison said.

The facility reportedly did not call or contact the family before Chris arrived to pick up Bruce.

By the time he was pulled out of the pool, rigor mortis had set in, the police told the family. Bruce was also not taken to an emergency vet, per Alison.

“English bulldogs, by nature, aren’t natural swimmers,” she said.

The Santa Barbara Police Department confirmed that they responded to a boarding facility on Montecito Street at approximately 4:45 p.m. for a report of a dog drowning. 

Lt. Ryan DeJohn said the incident is under investigation by the Criminal Investigative Unit and Animal Control Team. 

“During the initial investigation, the responding officer met with the K-9’s owners, who provided information regarding their K-9 and the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident,” DeJohn said.

“The officer also interviewed the employees who were present when the incident occurred.” 

Alison said the family isn’t sure “if anything will come out” of the police investigation, but they wanted to “make people aware” of what had happened. 

“Bruce was just the sweetest, sweetest boy,” she said. “A really good dog, and this is just a crazy tragedy. How it’s been handled… we’re upset about the tragedy, but how it’s being handled is not right.

“How it was handled afterwards wasn’t right, to not call the owners, and to inform them when they show up.” 

Ashley’s sister, Savannah, launched a GoFundMe to help the family pay for cremation and memorial services for Bruce.