Julie and Martin dropped their dog at the sitters and it was the last time they ever saw him(Image: Julie Hulse)

'We left our dog with a sitter, we live in fear at what happened'

by · Liverpool Echo

'We left our dog with a sitter, we live in fear over what happened'

Tank sadly died while the couple were on holiday in Lanzarote

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A couple who left their dog with a sitter to go on holiday said they 'live in fear' over what happened. Martin and Julie Hulse from Liverpool left their dog Tank with a dog sitter, for what was supposed to be a two-week break to Lanzarote, in August.

However the couple claim that days into their trip they received a heartbreaking phone call from the sitter who said French bulldog Tank had died.

A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council confirmed to the Liverpool ECHO that the business has been investigated and that appropriate and proportionate enforcement action is being considered.

Julie, 53, said she answered the call from the dog sitter and was told their "boy had died through the night". Husband Martin said he remembers just hearing his wife scream.

Martin said: “I had just been inside the apartment to go to the toilet and Julie had gone outside to the sunbeds. As I came out the toilet I just heard this screaming, I realised it was Julie screaming. She was beside herself screaming ‘Tank's dead.’ I took the phone from Jules and that's when I was asking what happened.”

Tank sadly died while Julie and Martin were on holiday(Image: Julie Hulse)

The 55-year-old said they managed to get flights back to the UK for that same day and the following morning went round to the sitter's house to get Tank. They have since had Tank cremated and said their other dogs xxxx are "grieving" for Tank.

Martin added: "We’re living in fear after what has happened. He was our only boy, he was a gorgeous dog and he didn't deserve to die a week before his third birthday. It’s been so stressful.”

Liverpool City Council states that if you provide daytime and overnight boarding for other people's dogs in your own home you will need a dog home boarder licence. This applies to domestic homes, not outdoor kennels. The cost of a licence is £306. Failure to do so could lead to an unlimited fine or imprisonment up to six months.

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