Apet owner is now seeking justice after his pet Chow Chow died of heatstroke while staying at a pet hotel in Antipolo. And now, more netizens are coming forward with versions of their own horror stories at the same dog hotel. Here’s what happened.

King the Chow Chow dies at a pet hotel in Antipolo

On June 19, 2023, Rod Garino experienced every pet owner’s nightmare — his beloved Chow Chow, King, passed away. In a viral Facebook post, Garino said he let King stay for six days at Milo & Friends, a popular pet hotel in Antipolo while he traveled overseas. Since this was King’s third time staying at the pet hotel, Garino was confident that King would be in good hands. However, although he left the Chow Chow in perfect health, King collapsed on the morning of the sixth day.

According to Garino, it took the caretakers around 30 minutes to notice King wasn’t conscious. They rushed him to the nearest vet, a 20-minute ride away. By the time he arrived, it was already approximately an hour since he collapsed. King was pronounced dead on arrival and the necropsy results revealed he suffered from heat stroke.

King’s cause of death puzzled Garino. The contract he signed with the pet hotel explicitly stated that the premises would be air-conditioned 24/7.

“Yes, we signed an agreement that the host will not be liable for any instance, but death is different,” he said in his post.

Garino also confirmed that the owner of the pet hotel offered him a puppy to replace his furbaby but he declined.

“What if we sue them? Probably not, kasi ano ba mangyayari?” said Garino. “The owner is a well-known influencer, dating may posisyon sa gobyerno at ang masakit ay mawalan ng trabaho ang mga taong nagbabantay sa mga asong nasa hotel.”

Garino’s post has reached 17k reactions and 6.3k shares as of writing.

Milo & Friends issue an apology (and deletes it)

Tristan Huertas, the pet hotel’s owner, attempted to defend himself against accusations that his pet hotel’s negligence killed the Chow Chow. He posted a lengthy apology via Milo & Friends’ Facebook page, one that’s now deleted.

Huertas, who is also a dog trainer and a vlogger, begins by saying he’s passionate about taking care of dogs. He called King an aggressive dog, one that he alleged other trainers couldn’t control. Huertas also recalled an instance where King bit him on the hand. The injury required stitches but he “never asked for reimbursement even though incidents like those were part of the contract.”

Regarding the present issue, Huertas confirmed the dog hotel’s provisions including air conditioning, mineral water for pets, stainless steel cages, and daily updates for owners. However, he admitted that they don’t keep the air conditioning on 24/7.

“Pinapatay po namin ang aircon dahil araw-araw po kami naglilinis ng cages,” he wrote. “Pumapasok po kasi ang pressure water sa aircon, yan po ang dahilan.”

“Hindi po ganun kainit kapag pinatay ang aircon para mag-linis. Siguro sobrang kapal ng balahibo which is alam din ng owner dahil hindi nga po siya mapagroom ng owner,” he added.

Huertas also questioned why King was the only dog that collapsed in the facility when at least four other dogs were in the same room.

“We stand in good faith, never po kami nagmaltrato ng aso,” said Huertas.

He also confirmed that he offered King’s owners a new puppy that he will train just for them.

Huertas even said that he wouldn’t be able to pay Php 500k to compensate for King’s death, saying that his team is also “facing problems.” Garino had never asked for Php 500k, but he did mention in a private message to Huertas that it cost them half a million to take care of King for three years to provide what’s best for him.

Past Milo & Friends clients speak up

Apparently, King’s death wasn’t an isolated case. A number of pet owners commented under Garino’s post, retelling their alleged bad experiences with Huertas and Milo & Friends.

Most of the dog owners said they left their furbabies with Huertas either to be trained or to be watched over while they were out of town. They said that when they returned, their dogs were bone-thin, hungry, and smelled of piss and poo. Some passed away after a few days while others acted as if they’re traumatized.

“My dog also died. Akala ko isolated case lang ang nangyari sa dog ko kaya nanahimik ako sa loob ng 2 to 3 years after mangyari yun,” read one testimony. “After 1 month plus training sa kanya, pag-balik sakin sobrang payat na halos kita na ribs (hindi na bumalik sa dati) hanggang sa namatay. Ang hirap lang talaga mag-talk kapag hindi ka sikat na influencer at walang connection.”

Another instance reads: “My husky also died after one month training with them. ‘Di ko alam anong ginawa nila pero dinala ko sa kanila ng healthy. After a few days, naiuwi ko. Wala na ayaw na kumain and he died with liver failure, meaning nalason. Same [rin] sabi aircon, may room, pero nasa labas lang pala ng bahay.”

More complaints were compiled in this Facebook post.

Pinoys are furious

Pinoys slammed Huertas for not taking full responsibility for King’s death. The Internet also found it dismaying that instead of offering the owners help or even condolences, Huertas seemingly pinned the blame on the dog.

“Public apology o public victim blaming?” commented one netizen under screenshots of Huertas’ deleted Facebook post.

“Ano ba ‘to apology or paninise sa aso? Parang sinisisi mo pa ung aso ah,” read another comment.

“Sobra manipulation and gaslighting para magkaron siya ng sympathy sa mga tao,” commented another. “Nakakasuka. He’s been able to get away with killing furbabies for years. This has to stop and mag-standup na mga victims bago makapambiktima pa ng iba.”

Based on Garino’s reply to comments on his viral Facebook post, he’s “looking at options” on how to deal with their horrible experience with Milo & Friends.

“Courage is what we need now in order to get justice for Kuya [King],” he replied in one comment.

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