Dog daycare faces animal care charges

An inspector said the dogs at a doggie daycare center in Virginia Beach were not being cared for properly. Daniel Stallings is the owner of Three Dog House, and with more than 100 dogs put in his care, he was very surprised when Virginia Beach Animal Control payed him a visit because of a complaint. "We received a citizen complaint about animal cruelty violation at Three Dog House," said Wayne Gilbert with Virginia Beach Animal Control.

Right now, Stalling faces 20 charges. The repeated charges deal with the dogs not having enough water or enough shelter space, and that the shelter was not properly cleaned. The charges turned out not to be animal cruelty charges but animal care charges. Stallings told WAVY.com the charges aren't what they seem.

"Well, it depends on how you define it. If not having water out in the field where dogs can bloat, I like to bring them in, let them cool down, and then give them water, then yes, I am guilty of that. Safety is more important than just the letter of the law," said Stallings.

He also added that during the inspection, many of the water bowls were in the process of being cleaned, and the issue of space has already been fixed. "We have since put them in larger crates too," said Stallings.

Inspectors also claimed of being overwhelmed by the smell of urine. Stallings said, "She actually called the fire department to check the air quality. The fireman upon walking in here did not make three steps into this building, he keyed his mic, and said cancel Hazmat, yes Hazmat. He said it smelled like dog in here, just like it smells now I imagine."

Animal Control has followed up and said the needed improvements have been made. Stallings just wants things to get back to normal. The owner also said he thinks the person who made the complaint against him is an ex-employee looking for retaliation for being fired. Regardless, Stallings was cited 20 times and will go to court later this month.