Notre Dame publicly criticized Des Hague, CEO of Centerplate, a sports catering company that supplies concessions for Irish sporting events, for allegedly abusing a dog in an elevator in Vancouver.
“We find the actions of Centerplate’s CEO to be deplorable and will closely monitor this matter as the company conducts its internal review,” University spokesman Dennis Brown said in a statement Monday, according to a WSBT report.
A viral video that surfaced last week depicted a man dragging and kicking a Doberman puppy. According to a statement made through his attorney and published Monday by Fortune, Hague apologized for the incident, which was “completely and utterly out of character.”
“I am ashamed and deeply embarrassed,” he said. “… a minor frustration with a friend’s pet caused me to lose control of my emotional response … I would like to extend my apology to my family, company and clients, as I understand that this has also reflected negatively on them.”
Centerplate has supplied concessions at Notre Dame since 2011 and currently covers all on-campus sporting events, according to a WSBT report.
“We're continuing to monitor the company's response and await to see what authorities in Vancouver report before commenting further,” University spokesman Paul Browne said in a statement.
