Two Great Danes die during pet delivery transport from Michigan to California
TOPEKA (KSNT) - A Topeka company is at the center of a controversial story making national headlines after two dogs died during a pet delivery transport.
"It's like a movie, a really bad movie," said Bill Ervin, a longtime Michigan man who recently moved to Napa, California with his wife Kristin.
The couple hired VIP Pet Delivery based in Topeka to transport the couple's two Great Danes, Penny and Cookie, and cat Nellie.
Only the cat Nellie would make it to the new home in California - despite being cleared by a vet just a week prior both dogs died during the trip.
Their cause of death remains a mystery, the dogs are now undergoing a necropsy at a California state lab that will hopefully provide the Ervins answers as to what happened to their beloved dogs.
"We want answers and an apology would be really wonderful, and some accountability," he said. "That's what we are looking for and we didn't want this to become national news or anything else, we just wanted our dogs."
Rachel Cottrell, the owner of the company which has since disabled their website and removed all social media pages, had assured the Ervin's that her family would do the transport themselves.
About 10 days prior to the scheduled pick-up date, she sent the couple a text that's been shared with KSNT that another one of her drivers would be taking over after someone in the family was exposed to another person who was positive for Covid-19.