The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued an Emergency Order of Suspension to a day care home in Olathe, licensed under the name Kristine Luthi Home Day Care.
According to the order, in September 2015, a dog owned by the licensee, Kristine Luthi, bit a child in care. In January 2016, the dog bit a parent of a child in care. The order says after that Luthi agreed to keep the dog on a different level of the home so the dog wouldn’t be around children.
The order says in July 2016, the dog bit a child in care on the face, and the injury required medical treatment.
The KDHE found multiple violations during compliance checks. In 2015, the KDHE found immunization records were not on file for two children, the provider didn't have dog records and the provider allowed a growling dog to be around children.
According to a news release from the KDHE, state law allows the Secretary of KDHE to issue an order when, in the opinion of the Secretary, the order is necessary to protect children in the home from any potential threat to health or safety.
The order is subject to appeal.
Paul Major, who lives several homes down from the day care, said he was surprised about the violations.
"They are nice people," he explained. "They just keep to themselves."
Major said he often saw children coming and going from the house, and he was shocked when he heard about the police response at the home.
"We'd see little kids dropped off in the morning, kids getting dropped off in the evenings," said Major. "Everyone seemed happy, seemed good. They didn't have any issues with them at all."
41 Action News spoke with Kristine Luthi in her driveway on Monday. Luthi confirmed the day care was shut down last Friday.
She said the dog accused of biting the three people is a Jack Russell Terrier and is still living at her home.
A man with ties to the home day care owner but didn't want to give his name says they plan to appeal the violations and shutdown in the coming weeks.
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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.
