Alabama family claims dog starved to death while boarding, training out of town

CHILTON COUNTY, Ala. ( WIAT ) — It's a phone call no parent wants, that your beloved family pet has died while in the care of someone else. One Birmingham woman claims her puppy was starved to death while being boarded and trained at a facility in Chilton County.

"It's heart wrenching to our family because we lost our family member," Karen Black said. "It's heart wrenching because our baby had to go through so much that she didn't deserve. She did not deserve that."

Emotions are raw as the Black family processes the unexpected death of their Chesapeake Bay Retriever puppy, Chloe. Black says on Sept. 28, Cupid Seymour came and picked up Chloe for a four-week basic obedience training course at his facility, Cupid's Dog House, in Verbena. Three weeks later on Oct. 19, Black got a phone call Chloe had died.

Black had received video messages while Chloe was training. The last video she got before her death was on Oct. 17.

"It was as if it was her words, and I'm paraphrasing please, 'hi mom, it's me and I'm doing good and I start leash training with Mr. Cupid on Monday' and she never made it to Monday," Black said. "Monday was whenever her body was returned to the vet."

Black had her vet perform a necropsy on Chloe which she says came back that she died of starvation, having lost 33% of her body weight.

"If somebody would have told me to guess 100 ways that a dog could die, or that my dog could die, starvation was never one of them. I didn't know. It is unbearable," Black said. "She had absolutely nothing in her GI tract. Nothing in her GI tract. And that this death, the vet told me this death was 100% avoidable."

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The Chilton County Sheriff's Office says Seymour was arrested on a cruelty to animals charge on Nov. 4, which is a misdemeanor charge.

"If you're in the dog business as a breeder or a trainer, even veterinarians, that a dog should be a certain age before being allowed to come around other dogs. So, in our professional opinion, Chloe contracted something from another dog and she depleted quickly," Seymour said. "We're saddened about that and she was not only a member of the Black family but she was also a member of the Cupid's Dog House family."

Seymour says while in his care, Chloe was not starved or deprived of food.

"The dog didn't lose any weight while it was here. She was plumped and healthy in all of the videos. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Black even commented on one of our text messages that she said that Chloe had doubled in size in two weeks," Seymour said. "We are deeply saddened by losing Chloe because she was an awesome puppy. Things happen beyond our control and so now our goal is to continue to serve the public with transparency and honesty."

This was not the Black family's first dog to go through Seymour's training, which Black says has made the whole situation hurt even more.

"Cupid not only trained my dog before, he had been in my home. He had had dinner in my home. I never, this is a betrayal like none other," Black said. "I thought I was sending her to a trusted person and our baby didn't deserve this."

The Chilton County District Attorney will prosecute the case. Seymour's first appearance in court is scheduled for Dec. 17.