Overview
- Police responded to Camp Canine on the 800 block of East Montecito Street after the drowning was reported and the case is being handled by the Santa Barbara Police Department’s Criminal Investigative Unit and Animal Control Team.
- Bruce, a one-year-old English bulldog who had attended the daycare for about six months, was pulled from a pool and pronounced dead sometime between about 1:00 and 2:00 p.m., according to family accounts and police statements.
- The dog’s owners say they were not contacted by staff before arriving to pick him up around 3:30 p.m. and that they were shown Bruce’s body in a plastic tub, details that have intensified public anger.
- A TikTok video of the confrontation went viral and, after the family’s account gained attention, Camp Canine posted a public apology and temporarily suspended daycare operations while it reviews safety and emergency procedures.
- Reporting notes the facility separates dogs by size and that two unfenced pools sit in the large-dog yard; investigators and the community are focused on how a bulldog normally kept with smaller dogs ended up in that area and what regulatory or legal steps may follow.