18 DOGS BOARDED FOR HOLIDAY KILLED IN QUEBEC KENNEL FIRE?

Families who boarded their pets at a St-Lazare, Que., kennel are now facing the grim task of retrieving their dog's remains after a fire at the facility killed 18 animals on the weekend. 

"I can tell you there's been at least two days of crying," said Michel Cohen, who was on vacation with his family in the Dominican Republic when they got word that their four-year-old Goldendoodle, Dexter, was among the dogs who perished in the fire. 

St-Lazare Fire Chief Daniel Boyer said no one was in the kennel when the fire broke out.

The cause of the fire hasn't been determined, but it is not considered suspicious. 

Cohen said he has been told the owner of the kennel had left the facility unattended while he went to a Christmas party. It was neighbours who actually called the fire department, he said. 

By the time firefighters arrived, the dogs had already died. Cohen didn't learn about the fire until the next afternoon when he received an email asking him to call the kennel's owner. 

Cohen said he paid $100 a day to board the family's beloved pet at the kennel and expected that someone would be watching at all times. The family had left the dog in the care of the kennel for the past three years.

Source: CBC