Pet lovers come out to pay respects for 14 dogs at funeral service

Tears, barking, and raspy voices.

Those were some of the sights and sounds at Acadia McKagues’s Funeral Centre Saturday morning.

The funeral centre hosted a service honouring 14 dogs who died due to a heating problem at Playful Paws Pet Center Sept. 10.

“My daughter has been sleeping on the couch for the last week,” Dawn Loessin said, her dog Link was one of the dogs who died.

“Her room (daughter) looks like Link, smells like him, and she sees him everywhere.”

Tears of heartbreak filled the room of 300 pet lovers.

Families shared stories of their beloved pets, family members, and friends, who they feel were taken away too soon.

“You just can’t put the situation into words,” said E Haffermehl, whose sister lost her dog Sammy.

“He was the sweetest little thing and had a ball of energy.”

During the funeral service, Rev. Allan Parsons spoke about the negativity people have been spewing about a funeral for pets, saying they aren’t humans.

“I feel sorry for those people,” Loessin said. “They haven’t experienced the love you have for pets and nobody can tell you how to grieve.”

The group of pet owners will be taking legal action against the pet center.

“We’re working as one group,” Loessin said. “We don’t want this to happen to another family again, we want dog kennels to be better regulated.”

The group believes it should be a local election issue.

“This rocked our city,” Loessin said. “We were on the news in the states and if we were picked up North American wide we have an issue.”

The group has started a Go Fund Me page Justice For Victims of Playful Paws to cover legal costs, so far it’s raised $3500.