FOUNTAIN, CO — A pet boarding facility in Fountain is shut down temporarily after state investigators found a pattern of failures, including the deaths of three dogs and six failed inspections in the past year.
The Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture suspended Boardmoor Pet Resort's license in May and ordered the facility to immediately cease and desist all operations.
The suspension remains in effect until a court hearing in Denver, which was scheduled for Thursday, June 25, but has been postponed at the request of the facility owner's attorney. A new date has not yet been set.
The facility's owner, Daniel O'Sullivan, is also facing criminal charges.
The Gomez family, whose two dogs were killed at the facility last fall, had called for the state to shut it down.
"I don't think he should ever be allowed to open another facility," said Veronica Gomez.
The Gomez family's Yorkie and Shih Tzu were killed at Boardmoor Pet Resort, located off I-25 in Fountain, in the fall of 2025.
O'Sullivan said their deaths were an accident. He said the family's Belgian Malinois opened the latch on a gate, and a female bully breed dog also being boarded at the facility got loose and killed the two smaller dogs.
"(The bully breed dog) was able to bounce, jump on this door hard enough and long enough that she actually twisted this lock. It's clamped on, but she twisted it, and that's how she got out," said O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan acknowledged that a carabiner meant to secure the gate was not in place when the dogs escaped.
"Evidently, I just forgot to put that extra one on," said O'Sullivan.
Two days after the dogs were killed, animal law enforcement issued O'Sullivan a summons for unlawful ownership of a dangerous dog, a Class 2 misdemeanor.
Colorado's Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act Program (PACFA), licenses boarding facilities across the state.
The week after the Gomez family dogs were killed, PACFA said it had received "multiple complaints about this facility and an investigation is ongoing." The agency said it could not "release any documents for this case" at that time.
When the investigation concluded in May, PACFA released all documents related to the case. Those documents show Boardmoor Pet Resort failed six inspections in the past year on the following dates:
- June 3, 2025
- January 6, 2026
- February 6, 2026
- March 20, 2026 (two failed inspections)
- March 31, 2026
Documents from one of those inspections reveal the same bully breed dog had escaped her kennel and attacked another dog named Baylor approximately two weeks before the Gomez family dogs were killed.
During that same incident, the dog also bit and injured one of the facility's employees.
A separate inspection report shows that another dog, named Cheesecake, died while in the facility's care in January. The inspection report states, "The investigation determined that the facility should have sought veterinary care for Cheesecake and failed to do so, resulting in her death."
O'Sullivan disputed that account.
"I felt that we did what we needed to do at that, from what we understood at that point in time, was that the owner had some say in what happened to their dog," said O'Sullivan. "I called her. I told her that it needed to go to a vet if you're gonna do anything and she said, 'No, I'll pick her up in the morning and take her.'"
The state's inspection report tells a different story. According to the report, "Cheesecake's owner stated that she was not told how severe things were, and that the facility owner told her that while something was wrong, he did not think Cheesecake required emergency vet care."
Under Colorado law, if a pet in a boarding facility's care becomes sick, the facility is required to take the animal to a veterinarian. It's then up to the facility to recover those costs from the pet's owner because the state does not regulate the payment or reimbursement.
Two months after Cheesecake's death, the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region charged O'Sullivan with cruelty to animals in connection with her death, a Class 1 misdemeanor.
O'Sullivan said he is prepared to present his record at the upcoming hearing.
"All we can do is tell them what our history is, what happened," said O'Sullivan. "Somebody's going to make a decision."
The Gomez family is hoping the temporary suspension becomes permanent.
"I hope, I don't think it is the case, but I hope he's just a little bit remorseful," said Gomez.
In the criminal cases against O'Sullivan, a judge has ordered him to complete a mental health competency evaluation. At a court hearing in May, O'Sullivan told the judge he had not yet completed it. The judge gave him until his next court appearance in July to do so.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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