A top banker has won a £10,000 court payout after his pet terrier had its leg broken by dog trainers while undergoing anxiety therapy.
Yigit Onkan Sazak, a vice president at Bank of America, says he and wife Belma’s Jack Russell, Sirius, badly broke a hind leg on a £2,500 course of canine therapy at Suffolk-based Four Paws Walking and Training Ltd in October 2023.
Mr Sazak claimed his family spent around £7,200 in vets’ bills to treat the ‘serious’ fracture, with his wife claiming their traumatised dog even needed ‘depression medication’ to cope with not being able to run around while he healed.
The banker went on to sue Four Paws to recoup this sum and the training fee, with a judge awarding him a total of £10,583 – including interest – after no-one representing the company attended to defend the claim.
Four Paws Walking and Training Ltd is the brainchild of former advertising guru Paul Ives, who says online that he founded it after being inspired by his love of canines ‘to help dogs and owners form an unbreakable bond’.
The company, based in Bury St Edmunds, specialises in ‘bespoke dog training’ and in its promotional literature takes pride in offering a ‘dog-centric approach’ to ‘socialisation struggles, toilet training, aggression and anxious episodes’.
Among the packages on offer are a two-week ‘customised board and train’ programme, comprising ‘intensive training sessions’ and an ‘immersive experience’.
But Mr and Mrs Sazak said things went badly wrong when they turned to the dog trainers to help with their terrier’s ‘anxiety and reactivity’.
Sketching out the dispute, District Judge Edwin Omoregie told the court: ‘what Mr Sazak said in his claim form is that he sent his dog for some form of training with the defendants and that while the dog was in training he sustained injuries which included a spiral fracture.
‘The fracture was quite serious and that necessitated Mr Sazak to have his dog treated for the injuries.
‘As a result of those injuries, he sued the defendants first for the cost of the vet’s bill to treat Sirius, and also for the training fees for the dog.’ In an online customer review of Four Paws, Mr Sazak’s wife, Belma, labelled their experience a ‘complete nightmare’, claiming Sirius broke his leg after Four Paws ‘took him in for training’.
‘This entire ordeal has inflicted significant emotional stress and financial hardship on us,’ wrote Ms Sazak.
‘At this point, we are striving to get our lives back on track and offer the best possible support to Sirius. This experience has been a complete nightmare.’
In another, she told of Sirius having to have a metal plate and nine screws inserted in his leg and would need ‘intensive post-surgery care,’ while ‘confined to immobility.’
‘It breaks my heart to see him wrestle with heightened anxiety and even needing depression medication to cope with his nightmarish new environment,’ she wrote.
Four Paws did not attend the hearing at Central London County Court, but in an online response to the review earlier said they had informed Sirius’ owners promptly after his ‘unfortunate accident’ and took him to a vet.
‘I would like to point out that we have offered to cover the medical costs for the operation, x-rays, medication and follow up appointments, and are waiting on the results of the eight-week checkup to get a final account and then payment will be made,’ the company’s response continued.
After the company failed to appear or send its lawyers to court last week, Judge Omoregie entered judgement for £10,583 for Mr Sazak.
However, he noted that the company could still have the option of returning to court and apply to ‘set aside’ his order, since no representative was in court to present their side of the dispute.
‘This is maybe not the end of the matter,’ he said.
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