NAPLES DAILY NEWS, Bonita

Ten dogs dead, 54 hurt as alarm overlooked at kennel
By ANNE MARIE APOLLO, amapollo@naplesnews.com
June 2, 2005

UPDATE - An alarm signal overlooked by a security guard at the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track early Wednesday left more than 60 dogs languishing for hours in a kennel clouded with smoke from a smoldering fire in its air conditioning unit.

Ten dogs died.

Another 54 were rushed to area veterinarians, where most were expected to recover, few to ever race again.

The Bonita Springs track closed for the day as emergency workers and volunteers labored for hours in pouring rain to resuscitate the dogs, providing oxygen and intravenous fluids before transporting them to area animal hospitals.

Once there, the most critically ill dogs wheezed and struggled for breath as veterinarians evaluated their conditions, provided what care they could and hoped for the best.

At least one greyhound died en route to treatment from the track, creating a death toll that has animal advocates nationwide criticizing safety conditions at the facility and at least one to promise a formal complaint is forthcoming.

Track officials attributed the fire to an accident and its failure to be noticed until hours after it started to human error.

An investigation by the state fire marshal's office revealed the blaze was caused by a buildup of dust and dander in the kennel's air conditioning unit, said Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue spokeswoman Debbi Redfield.

The fire burned itself out before harming the structure, Redfield said, but the damage to the animals was done.

An inspection by the fire district two months ago revealed no problems in the building, Redfield said, but the air conditioning unit is not part of that examination.

Track spokesman Larry Baldwin said maintenance on the air conditioners is the responsibility of the individual kennel operators.

The track's 12 kennels, which hold a total of nearly 1,000 dogs, each have smoke detectors hard-wired to signal an alarm in a guard building that is manned 24 hours a day.

Wayne Beckman, director of security for the track, said alarms came in at 1:20 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., but that the guard on duty believed they were coming from kennel 13.

Instead, smoke was filling kennel 19.

The fire was not discovered until just before 5 a.m., when Gregory and Arlene Wootten, the kennel's operators, came in to prep the animals for the day's races.

"It's a heartbreaker," Beckman said. The employee responsible will be fired, he said.

As they opened the kennel's doors to prepare for the day's races, the Woottens found the room with more than 60 dogs inside filled with smoke. Approximately another 60 were in a second room separated by a fire-proof wall.

Those dogs were not injured.

Without knowing where the haze was coming from or if there was fire inside, the Woottens called 911 and began evacuating the dogs.

After several hours with the dogs at the scene, the Woottens went to an area hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

They could not be reached for comment.

Firefighters from Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue began working alongside the Woottens shortly after the call came in, in some cases leading or carrying the dogs out into fresh air one by one.

Four greyhounds were dead at the scene, said Bonita Springs Fire Control and Rescue Lt. Barry Brown.

Six more died despite the best efforts of firefighters, animal control workers and veterinarians who sat with the dogs' heads in their laps, holding oxygen masks to their snouts.

Getting the animals out was the firefighters' first concern, Brown said.

"When you see these dogs, they're helpless," he said. "They don't know what's going on."

Emergency workers on the scene said caring for the distressed dogs was not all that different than the medical attention they would offer a human in the same situation.

Lt. Phil Brown with the Iona-McGregor Fire District, who is trained in urban search and rescue and was on scene at the track, said his team works regularly with dogs and have learned basic first-aid techniques that came into play Wednesday.

Baldwin praised the agencies that responded the fire and spent six to seven hours caring for the animals.

All the greyhounds housed in the kennel required medical care, said veterinarian Anne Loxynska, who has worked at the track in the past and treated animals there Wednesday.

Their medical situation was unstable, she said.

After getting oxygen, some would rally and try to stand, only to collapse minutes later.

The main concern of those treating the dogs was that the animals would develop fluid in their lungs, a risk Loxynska said will last up to 72 hours from the time they were released from the smoke.

Because of the nature of the fire, the smoke more than just suffocated the lungs; it also probably caused some brain damage in the more severe cases, said Larry Gentsch, director of Dr. Amy's Animal Hospital in San Carlos Park, where the dogs were transported late Wednesday morning. The smoke also undoubtedly caused the development of fluid on the dogs' lungs, which could cause the greyhounds to slip in and out of stable condition during the next few days, he said.

"Greyhounds are one of the touchier breeds," Gentsch said Wednesday evening. "They are very sensitive to their environment. So it's going to be touch and go for the next 24 hours."

Three loads of injured dogs made their way to the clinic, where staffers laid them out over every available surface and began treatment.

The greyhounds that survived the fire have an excellent chance to recover, Gentsch said.

"I hope that some of them could even get back on the track," he added. "Without a doubt, though, the ones we have here will recover to some extent."

Races at the track are canceled again today.

Track officials said they are expected to resume at 12:15 p.m. Friday.

The injured animals, which range in age from 2 to 6, were in good health before the fire, Loxynska said. Following their ordeal, she said, most will now need to be pets, not race dogs.

Susan Netboy, president of the California-based Greyhound Protection League, said that will almost certainly be the case.

"They're athletes and they have to be in prime condition to make money for their owners," Netboy said.

Enraged by the deaths and injuries to the dogs, her organization intends to file a complaint with the state's Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Netboy said.

"These animals didn't stand a chance; the place is just a death trap," Netboy said in a press release issued just hours after the fire.

The group made a similar move in 2003 after reports the Bonita Springs track did not have veterinarians working on site during all races.

Meg Shannon, communications director for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, said the track has no current complaints pending against it. And though that agency had representatives on scene after Wednesday's fire, Shannon said she did not believe any disciplinary action would take place.

The fire appears to have been an accident, she said, and the department's oversight of the animals primarily has to do with their treatment as it pertains to racing.

Netboy, though, said she'd like to see the track shut down.

Fort Myers resident Sherry Farris, who serves as a volunteer coordinator for the Greyhound Protection League locally, said someone should pay a price for the dogs' deaths.

After hearing news early in the morning about the fire, she stood outside the track as the animals were being treated and questioned the conditions there.

"It's an outrage what happened. Somebody should be responsible and liable for this," Farris said. "It was uncalled for. It didn't need to happen."

Staff Writer Jonathan Foerster and photographer Erik Kellar contributed to this report.