Puppy Strangled at PetSmart, L.A. Lawsuit Alleges: PHOTOS

alyssaball550

omg poor puppy if any one did that to my puppy i would call the cops.

desertracer4ever

First off, I am an associate at Petsmart and this is truely a sad story. Petsmart uses height adjustable grooming tables with an over hanging bar that the leash is attached to. I can say with 100% certainty that the dog was left unattended and tried to jump off the grooming table and strangled himself. Not to say that it isn't Petsmart's fault but this article also says the owners picked the dog up, brought him to the vet, and Petsmart was the one that cremated the animal? Even if the owners didn't actually pick the dog up and was brought to the Banfield vet hospital in the store, Petsmart doesn't have the means to cremate any animal. There is NO furnace or incinerator in any Petsmart store anywhere so the claim of Petsmart cremating their pet is complete crap.

And for those of you who are afraid to take your pets to Petsmart anymore, you have a 1 in over 8 million chance of your pet dying while they are there. Think about this(bare with the length):as of March 2011 Petsmart has 1192 stores in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico and each store grooms on average 15 pets a day which is 450 pets per month. So if you take your pet there to be groomed once a month you can multiply 1,192 by 450 to get 536,400 pets per month are groomed in petsmart stores.Petsmart opened it first stores in 1987 so even if you only use 15 of the 25 years they have been open you multiple 536,400 by 15 years to get 8,046,000 pets groomed by Petsmart since 1997. Now this is the first death of a pet brought into the store so you have a 1 in over 8 million chance of your pet dying.

And Petsmart Charities program has help to adopt out 5 MILLION pets as of June 2012. MOST of these pets were taken from shelters where they were on the euthanasia list to be killed. So I am sorry to the pet parents of that beautiful english bulldog but that one death should NOT sway you to stop bringing your pet to Petsmart.

Haymon157

that's a damn shame .Being a dog owner .as I was listening to the news .first thing a I pictured was the dog being held by It's neck being bathed by somebody inexperienced I I told my wife I bet you they strangle that p uppy and sure enough that's what happen.

Darrell Huth

On 3-11-12 I took our little dog to the local Petsmart ( Store # 136 in Oxnard, Ca. ) for a grooming. The groomer called and told me he had cut her "dew claw" and had to take her to the vet ( Banfield in the same building ) for a "minor surgery" . When my wife picked her up that afternoon, not only did she have the worst haircut I have ever seen, she had a bandaged hind leg, a plastic cone around her neck, and a BROKEN tail. Petsmart and Banfield seem to be pointing the finger at one another as to how it happened. Our dog was shaking and in severe pain for over a week. I have since reported this incident to Petsmart corporate twice and have yet to receive a response from them. I feel guilty that I was the one who took our beloved little dog and entrusted her to these people .....NEVER again !

Anna

Don't stop there, Darrell...

Darrell Huth

madabitu1225

this is truly a sad story, and my heart goes out to the family. I worked at the petsmart grooming salon for over 10 years, first as a bather and then as a groomer. At my salon, if a dog could not be groomed properly with someone holding it, safety might I add, then we sent it home. Most of the time the owners were more pissed of that the grooming wasn't finished, than us actually caring for the health of their dog. Not all petsmart grooming salons are bad, don't judge the whole company for the incompetence of some employees.

Pearls136

How on earth did this happen. I usually take my dog their for her grooming. Not only is this tragic but this breaks my heart. I now feel that I cannot trust the groomers at Downey PetSmart. This makes me wonder what on earth goes on behind closed doors. I'm disgusted by hearing this story and I will no longer continue being a customer with PetSmart. Poor little baby girl. This mistreatment of animals should be taken very serious!

beercrabs

how sad.....

MTkill_a_manJaro

This story is so wretchedly sad. obviously I dont know the full story but before we completely condemn the groomers, first thing i thought was that english bulldogs in general aren't a very hearty, healthy breed...specifically when it comes to respiratory issues. Maybe they mishandled the neck or squeezed the dog too tightly when restraining her during grooming.

Nothing is gonna make this story sound any better but Im assuming thats how it happened. I dont think this was done out of malice. Having someone's pet die under your care is always bad. Cremating the dog without the owner's permission - the plaintiffs most definitely aren't gonna let up on them.

Its horrible if this happened to any dog but probably worse if this was one of those $2000+ pedigree pups

Empyraa

What I'm not understanding is how Petsmart cremated the dog without permission. The story said that Rita was taken to another veterinarian, where she passed away. So...somehow the corpse was returned to Petsmart...and was THEN cremated, and THEN the owners picked it up? Sounds fishy.

I work in a Petsmart, and I can say with authority that in my store, dogs are never EVER left unattended in the grooming salon. Even if the groomer who was working on the dog had to excuse her/himself (which is so against company policy, it isn't even funny), there would have still been a receptionist and at least one other groomer in the salon -- which, by the way, has glass walls and is completely visible to other employees and customers alike.

This was a tragic accident. Accidents do not mean that the employees are malicious or incompetent. Groomers at Petsmart have to receive at least 80 hours of vigorous schooling and pass numerous safety exams before they're even allowed to touch an animal in the salon; after they pass the exams, they're still an apprentice for several months, and remain under the supervision of a seasoned groomer. You try remaining incompetent through all that instruction and testing.

Also -- vomiting blood is not a symptom of strangulation. Strangulation symptoms include listlessness, shortness of breath and loss of consciousness, but not vomiting blood. Vomiting blood is usually indicitive of of irritation of the esophagus lining (long-term irritation, not irritation that only lasts for a few moments -- that can't cause enough damage for instant vomiting), stomach/intestine irritation, respiratory or gastrointestinal problems, or an abdominal hernia. I'm thinking that there was an existing medical condition that may have been exacerbated by the groomers, or then again, it very well may not have been.

bulldog lover

are you kidding! I've had E bulls for year and yes they can have health issues that was a very happy healthy little girl when they took her in. That dog was left unattended on a grooming table most likely where it feel off and the leash stayed in place. Makes me cry!

MTkill_a_manJaro

No, Im not kidding. Ive had bulldogs myself (as well as pugs and shih tzus - all brachycephalic or "pushed-in nosed" breeds) and IN GENERAL they're not the healthiest of breeds.

Although the owners say the dog was happy and healthy, thats hearsay.

But the dog's breed wasnt my main point.

Now Im in no way saying this case is not tragic because an animal did needlessly die. Although it was more than likely petsmarts fault (and like you said, the dog probably was left unattended and strangled itself) I wasnt there and for the most part, we're only hearing what the plaintiff's lawyers are saying. I try to see both sides of the case instead of flinging around blind hatred. I dont think petsmart let the dog die out of malice as some people are suggesting, but it was more like gross negligence. Accidents do happen. It doesnt make it any better, but its just not "evil"