A senior banker whose Jack Russell broke its leg on a therapy course for anxious dogs has been awarded a £10,000 payout.

The dog, named Sirius, broke one of its hind legs in October 2023 while on a £2,500 course of pet therapy which its owners hoped would ease its “anxiety and reactivity”.

But a “serious” fracture at Four Paws Walking and Training Ltd, near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, left its owners with vet bills of £7,200.

Yigit Onkan Sazak, a vice-president at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Belma Sazak, his wife, have now been awarded £10,583 after they sued the company to recoup the bills and the course fee.

Mrs Sazak claimed that the dog had to be given “depression medication” because it was unable to run while recovering from the injury.

The Four Paws website says the company specialises in “bespoke dog training” and takes pride in tackling “socialisation struggles, toilet training, aggression and anxious episodes”.

Among the packages it offers are a two-week “customised board and train” programme, comprising “intensive training sessions” and an “immersive experience”.

Serious fracture

District Judge Edwin Omoregie told Central London County Court last week: “What Mr Sazak said in his claim form is that he sent his dog for some form of training with the defendants and that while the dog was in training he sustained injuries which included a spiral fracture.

“The fracture was quite serious and that necessitated Mr Sazak to have his dog treated for the injuries.

“As a result of those injuries, he sued the defendants… first for the cost of the vet’s bill to treat Sirius, and also for the training fees for the dog.”

Sirius’s owners said he became even more anxious after the accident Sazak Family/Champion News

In an online customer review of Four Paws, Mrs Sazak, labelled their experience a “complete nightmare”, claiming Sirius broke his leg after Four Paws “took him in for training”.

“This entire ordeal has inflicted significant emotional stress and financial hardship on us,” she wrote. “At this point, we are striving to get our lives back on track and offer the best possible support to Sirius.

“This experience has been a complete nightmare.”

‘Heightened anxiety’

In another post, Mrs Sazak told of Sirius having to have a metal plate and nine screws inserted in his leg and said the dog would need “intensive post-surgery care” while “confined to immobility”.

“It breaks my heart to see him wrestle with heightened anxiety and even needing depression medication to cope with his nightmarish new environment,” she wrote.

In an online response to the review, Four Paws said it had informed Sirius’s owners promptly after his “unfortunate accident”, and took him to a vet.

“I would like to point out that we have offered to cover the medical costs for the operation, X-rays, medication and follow up appointments, and are waiting on the results of the eight-week checkup to get a final account and then payment will be made,” the company’s response continued.

Four Paws did not attend the hearing. Judge Omoregie entered judgment for £10,583 for Mr Sazak.

But he noted that the company could still have the option of returning to court and apply to “set aside” his order, since no representative was in court to present their side of the dispute.

“This is maybe not the end of the matter,” he said.