Dog trainer accused of runnning filthy kennel where 2 dogs died

An upstate pet-training center promised nice digs for pampered pooches — but instead the animals were living in dangerous doggie dumps, a private investigator says.

Self-described canine expert Roland Fox — who runs the training center Fox K9 Instinct Barkour — is being investigated by the Sullivan County SPCA after two dogs died in his care in July, private detective Bo Dietl told The Post.

The dogs — a golden doodle named Santana and a 10-month-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Cappy — were left with Fox by their owner because he was going on vacation, Dietl said.

While he was away, the owner was contacted by Fox and told that both animals had been killed by a black bear, Dietl said.

Fox claimed he had already cremated the dogs “because they were starting to smell,” Dietl said.

Fox’s Web site touts his training center to be “a prototype in green and sustainable living . . . a Zen habitat for dogs” with filtration systems, an “artificial wetland” and self-composting toilets.

But when the owner hired Dietl to look into the facility, investigators found Fox wasn’t living at the residence he had advertised.

Santana, a dog under the care of Roland Fox that died.

Instead, he was shacking up in a tent on a mountainside in the Catskills with a cluster of filthy kennels, Dietl said.

“When investigators arrived at the grounds, the findings were shocking,” he said. “They witnessed dogs tethered to trees, makeshift dirty kennels, and a big tent which Roland was living in.

“Some of the dogs looked emaciated, and there was no shelter from the hot sun.”

They also found bones in a nearby fire pit that were brought to former New York City Chief Medical Examiner Michael Baden, who said they could have been the remains of Cappy, Dietl said.

Fox called investigators the next day, claiming he had shot and killed a black bear on his property, said Dietl, who believes the trainer was covering his tracks.

Roland Fox

“He lured the bear in with food, then shot him,” Dietl hypothesized. “This was to cover up the fact that he had either allowed the other dogs to kill the two New York City dogs, or had sold them.”

Fox did not return calls for comment.

Dietl’s investigators contacted the Sullivan County SPCA and state troopers, who arrested Fox for criminal possession of a weapon, illegal hunting and violation of fish and wildlife laws, State Police Sgt. Ahmed Khalil said.

State Police say Fox is being investigated for alleged animal cruelty by the SPCA, which has criminal investigative powers.

The SPCA did not return calls for comment.

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