Santa Barbara dog daycare Camp Canine faces protests after deadly drowning

Protesters have taken to the streets of Santa Barbara following the death of Bruce, an English bulldog, at a long-tenured doggie daycare facility last week.

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Bruce reportedly drowned in a pool on July 17 while staying at Camp Canine, a dog boarding facility in the heart of Santa Barbara’s Eastside neighborhood.

The dog boarding facility has a long history in the city. In 2024, Camp Canine celebrated their 40th anniversary. In 2025, the owners touted the business as having a “‘Disneyland’ feel.” 

But word of Bruce’s unexpected drowning soon spread throughout the city and beyond. 

On Wednesday, protesters with posters featuring pictures of the year-old English bulldog arrived at the business, which is temporarily closed to conduct an investigation and review the facility’s safety protocols. SFGATE called Camp Canine on Thursday morning for comment, but no one picked up, and the voicemail was not accepting new messages.

“We are here for justice and to keep eyeballs on this case,” Alison Genet, the mother of one of Bruce’s owners, Ashley Merz, who owned Bruce with husband Chris Merz, said during the protest, as first reported by the Santa Barbara News-Press. “We are here so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

“We are here to honor Bruce, who just had his first birthday,” Genet continued. “We would hope this time this story might bring some change.”

“I keep thinking none of this is real and that Bruce is going to come home somehow,” Ashley Merz wrote on social media in the wake of her dog’s death. “I’m in complete denial that this is my life right now.”

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“What was meant to be a normal day at Camp Canine turned into tragedy when their dog drowned while in the facility’s care,” a GoFundMe for the Merzes and Bruce said. “The pain was compounded by the way the situation was handled—they were not contacted when the incident occurred, and only learned of their dog’s passing later that day when they arrived to pick him up. To make matters even more difficult, they were given their dog’s body in a storage container in the trunk of a vehicle, and discovered he had not been transported to an emergency veterinary hospital before they were notified.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe has raised $14,668 of its $10,000 goal. 

Savannah Genet, Ashley Merz’s sister, also started a petition “calling for a closure of Camp Canine.” It has received more than 1,500 signatures. “Incidents involving beloved pets not only affect families on an emotional level but also raise concerns about the standards maintained by pet care facilities,” the petition states. “Real and impactful change is necessary to safeguard our pets, who are cherished members of our families.”

“The Santa Barbara Police Department is committed to a thorough investigation into this matter,” Santa Barbara police officials said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The case is actively being investigated by our Criminal Investigative Unit and Animal Control Team.”

SFGATE reached out to Santa Barbara Police Department for an update on its investigation but did not hear back in time for publication.