Eleven dogs die in fire at Staffordshire kennels and owners injured in rescue attempt

Eleven dogs have died after a fire broke out at a dog park in Kingswinford near Dudley.

The fire started in the early hours of Saturday morning (26 August) at the private BlueRose dog park, where people can exercise the dogs and use agility equipment.

Staffordshire Police have confirmed that fire fighters were already at the scene when officers arrived.

Writing on the business's Facebook page the owners say they've been left "devastated" by the incident and that the dogs killed "were our lives." 

They believe the dogs died after being overcome by fumes. They also revealed that they were injured as they rescued four dogs who were using the outdoor runs.

They named the eleven dogs who died as Socks, Skip, Chip, Chilli, Pepper, Hunter, Jade, Boomer, Tequila, Jack and Lyla.

They said, "Most of you know we had a devastating fire in the early hours of Saturday morning with 11 of our beloved dogs sadly losing their lives.

"We are absolutely devastated. The dogs were not locked in and had large runs on the outside, the ones that were out Deborah and myself managed to get out, 4 in total whilst getting injured ourselves.

"We believe the ones that weren't outside had been overcome by fumes so hopefully knew nothing about it. I would like to thank you all for your lovely messages of support and all the people that have already helped with the clean up."

A spokesperson for South Staffordshire Local Policing Team said: "We were called to a report of a fire at private dog kennels. Crews from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service were already at the scene and worked to extinguish the blaze. Sadly, 11 pet dogs died in the fire."

The blaze is not being treated as suspicious.

The police spokesperson added: "We understand that this is an upsetting incident which has caused concern in the community. A joint investigation into the cause of the fire has taken place and at this time there are believed to be no suspicious circumstances."