City issues notice of violation after dog killed while in home of Terrace dog sitter

MLTnews updated this story on Jan. 31 with clarification from Kristina Robinson. We will post a follow-up story following the release of the police report.

The City of Mountlake Terrace has issued a notice of violation to a woman who they say was running a kennel out of her home against city ordinance, after a Shoreline couple said their German shorthaired pointer died while left in her care.

The action came after Elisa Bronstein and Christopher King made presentations about their dog Livi’s death during two separate Mountlake Terrace City Council meetings in January. The couple told the council that in December 2016, they had left the dog with Kristina Robinson, owner of Edmonds-based kennel Precious Paws, as clients. During the dog’s stay, on Dec. 29, they were told that their dog was dead.

The couple told the council that during the dog’s stay with Robinson, Livi had gotten into a fight with another dog, one of four pit bulls that belonged to Robinson. Robinson’s dog was badly injured after the incident, and Livi was dead. The couple also claimed that several dogs had been left at Robinson’s house in Mountlake Terrace while Robinson was not home.

Robinson was also present during the Jan. 4 City Council meeting, and told the council that she had left the dogs alone for 30 minutes. Her father, who lives with Robinson, was home at the time.

“My kids and my husband and I can’t even sleep the past four days,” she said. “This is horrible.”

Livi’s owners, Elisa Bronstein and Christopher King, said that a family member was killed that day. “If you knew us, you knew Livi,” Bronstein told the council. “Now it is our job to seek justice.”

In 2014, Robinson applied for a conditional use permit to operate a kennel out of her home, but the request was declined, according to City Manager Scott Hugill. She then opened Precious Paws, located at 9659 Firdale Ave. in Edmonds.

Robinson said in a follow-up conversation Tuesday that King and Bronstein weren’t contracted customers, and that she had agreed to watch Livi in her Mountlake Terrace home as a favor.

King and Bronstein told the council that they did not agree to leave the dogs unsupervised, or in the care of anyone other than Robinson.

“We had never met (Robinson’s father) and did not hire him to watch our dogs,” Bronstein said during a second appearance at the Jan. 17 city council meeting.

The City of Mountlake Terrace delivered a Notice of Violation to Robinson’s house on Jan. 20, stating that running a kennel is a violation of city code for a residence, and that she has no business license to operate in Mountlake Terrace. The notice of violation ordered her to stop all kennel operations within 24 hours or face fines of $300 per day that the kennel continued to operate. Robinson said Tuesday, however, that she does not run a kennel out of her house and disagrees with the city’s issuance of a violation notice.

The Mountlake Terrace Police Department investigated Livi’s death and completed a necropsy on the decreased animal. MLTnews has filed a request for those investigation documents. A follow-up story will be issued after those documents have been obtained.

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