Pocono News Section

Kennel Explosion Update

Kennel Explosion Update - Friday, March 13, 2009 at 4:46PM EST

SAYLORSBURG - One man and several animals are recovering after a kennel explosion. It happened last week in Carbon County. Timothy Kleinhagen was delivering propane when something went wrong. He is in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital.
Many dogs were also injured. Eyewitness News visited them at the animal hospital. Creature Comforts Veterinary Service has spent the week helping dogs recover from the kennel explosion. The Pazzazz Pet Boarding Kennel in Franklin Township burst into flames last Friday. It happened during a propane delivery.

Fifteen dogs died in the fire. Some made it out alive. Six Chows went to Creature Comfort for treatment. Kathy Ruwedel of Creature Comforts said, "Your first priority is to get those burns clipped, get them treated, and assess the damage."

Doctor Karin-Susan Breitlauch and her staff have worked almost non stop since the incident. "It has been a tough week," she said.

Friday Eyewitness News found her taking care of Cyrus. He has burns all over his body but the doctor expects he will recover. Ruwedel said, "Watching it walk out of the clinic, that's the best part of the job."

Chow Dawson is also expected to recover. He has burns and a neck injury. Doctro Breitlauch said, "We've been doing chiropractic acupuncture and laser therapy to work on his neck and he's doing well."

Other dogs have not been so lucky. Two died at the hospital in the weekend following the fire. The doctor said, "It's quite devastating to the staff and there have been quite a few tears this week."

One of the dogs died at the hospital Friday morning. Seneca had kidney failure. Her death brings the death toll to 19. "The owners and I had made a decision that today was going to be decision day anyway and she made the decision for us on her own. She died peacefully this morning," said Dr. Breitlauch.

While they couldn't save every dog, the staff at Creature Comforts did their best.

There is a fund set up to help the injured dogs.

First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union
430 South 7th Street
Lehighton, PA 18235