Settlement reached with kennel in lawsuit over dog’s loss of eye

The owner of a $3,000-plus pug dog has tentatively settled a lawsuit he filed against a Pasadena animal kennel where he alleged his pet suffered the loss of one eye while boarded there in 2018 just before the plaintiff and a companion had hoped to travel to Hawaii.

A lawyer for plaintiff Vincent DeRosa filed court papers on Friday with Alhambra Superior Court Judge Joel L. Lofton stating that a “conditional” resolution had been reached in the plaintiff’s case against K9 Loft Inc. and that a request for dismissal would be filed by Aug. 29.

The lawsuit was filed in April 2019, alleging fraud, breach of contract, negligence, and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The suit sought about $10,000 in medical damages and also named a defendant Afshin Sabouri, described in the defendants’ court papers as a part-owner and manager of the facility on Arroyo Parkway.

The defendants’ court papers further stated that it is impossible to avoid all contact among dogs in the K9 Loft play area and that the kennel could not be expected to prevent all accidents. Thousands of dogs have been well taken care of by well-trained employees during the nearly 15 years K9 Loft has been in business, the defendants’ court papers stated.

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 stated. The dog at issue in the lawsuit, Jake2.0, was the “pick of the litter,” cost more than $3,000 and DeRosa planned to enter him in dog shows, the suit stated.

DeRosa and companion Angela Nazari boarded the pug at K9 Loft in July 2018 and had no problems, so they brought him back there in December of that year when they planned a trip to Hawaii, according to the lawsuit.

DeRosa and Nazari were happy 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 stated.

About 20 minutes after DeRosa and Nazari left and headed to the airport, a K9 Loft employee called and said their pug suffered “cherry eye” from stress and was being taken to a veterinarian, the suit stated.

DeRosa and Nazari returned to K9 Loft, where the employee again assured them the dog would be seen by a veterinarian, the suit stated.

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 and that their pet’s 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 remain without the pet having any vision in the organ, but the animal doctor later determined that the eye would have to be removed, the suit stated.

In January 2019, 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 stated.

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 the viewing, according to the lawsuit.