Owner watches her puppy being killed......

Wierd.

Why is a 3 month old puppy at the groomers? Golden's coats aren't that needy. Also, why would the pittie be at the groomers? They have really short coats...

Sad, sad situation.

~Tucker

A young puppy might go to the groomers to begin learning about grooming. The pit went probably because the owners didn't feel like bathing him and trimming his nails themselves.

I would be SO ANGRY at the groomer over this. I worked at at groomers, and lots of times we had pits in to be groomed, and we NEVER had a situation like this. Somebody was negligent, I'll tell you that.

Oh my god, how horrific for that family and puppy. That pitty looks nice and healthy, this sounds like neglect on the PetsMart side. I don't understand why they fined the owners of the Pit?

Sad on all accounts. no excuse for it. Negligence on groomers part to have a cage where a dog can escape. Even if this did not happen what if the dog escaped and ran out into the street and was hit by a car ? Just sad.

How sad .

I don't understand the fine to the pit owners either. This is entirely the groomer's fault. I feel bad for the pup and it's family, this could have easily been prevented.

how could you let it "break out of its cage"?

I think they fined the Pits owners because its their job as OWNERS to properly socialize and train their dog.

A young pup is at the groomers to learn how to properly behave for being groomed for the years that were supposed to come.

Its a sad situation on both parts.

Yet again the pitty breed gets another bad review from the media...

VERy sad state.. and yes the GROOMERS should also be the ones that are fined at least. Its their job to keep the dogs safe and happy.. I worked as a groomer before and we never had problems like this at all.

Too, too sad !

But dog agression is part of the breed, and even if the dog is fine on leash with his owners, with people he doesn't know he might be different. They don't know the dog's commands. You can't control your dog if you AREN'T THERE.

First off, "pit bull" owners have every right to get their dogs groomed at a grooming salon just like every other breed does. Just because they have short coats doesn't mean that all owners are capable of bathing their dogs. For instance, my mother has had numerous back surgeries & cannot bend over a tub or whatnot therefore takes their lab to have her bathed. And the lab has a short coat.

IMO it was totally the fault of Petsmart & their irresponsible employees. Rule number one when closing a kennel door is to pull on it to see if it's properly closed. Period. At the clinic, we had a case where a Lab/GSD got out of it's kennel because a tech didn't close it properly & the dog attacked 2 of our clinic cats before we could get a hold of it. We've also had an incident where a German Shorthaired Pointer was loose when we arrived at the clinic in the morning, only to see that dog had destroyed anything & everything within his reach. Again, it wasn't the dogs fault or the owner's fault, but an irresponsible assistant's fault.

Although Petsmart will likely call this a "tragic accident" on their behalf, it is an "accident" that could totally be prevented if they took an extra 10th of a second to be repsonsible & check the kennel doors.

This is very sad I also have ALOT of friends with pitts and I can tell you if trained right these dogs are very loveable, they have a bad reputation cause of the few morons that fight them and breed for aggression. I live in NY and I can't tell you how this is so rampant here.These pits are sometimes worth up to 20,000 thousand because of their fighting capabilities, then when they are done with them they kill them and dump them It maked me so sad and angry. They have the worst reputation beacuse of the morons in this world..
Very Sad,
Andrea

I feel terrible for this little puppy ...

They said in the story its law that owners are responsible for the actions of there dogs regardless of if they are present or not...
I think that makes it pretty clear why the owners were fined.
That doesn't make it the right thing to do however that being the law, they are responsible for there dog, present or not.

Story said "Langan said investigators have not yet determined whether PetsMart faces any liability. " I think, of course they do. Part of running a grooming business is controlling the dogs under your care...just like a vet. I think it is crazy to think that Petsmart doesn't have at least 50% liability.

They should and hopefully they will end up with some kind of action taken against them, even if it's just being fined.

Stupid.

That comes across as not very nice. Sometimes I take my dog to the groomer's because I feel its important for her to have the experience of being handled by strangers. But I do agree that somebody from that grooming facility screwed up.

Had to comment on this as well. Training and socialization does not mean that a dog is going to get along with every other when not in the presence of the owner. When you take your pet into an establishment like that, its reasonable to expect that the employees are going to have the training and experience necessary to handle the dogs. Not all dogs are social butterflies, but does that mean they should be denied the use of a grooming facility? What about a veterinary clinic, since its a similar scenario? If it had been a greyhound that broke free and snatched someone's pet bunny or kitty, would there have been charges?

Not all my venom in that last paragraph is directed at you, Summer. This story doesn't make any sense to me.

Miakoda,
I did NOT mean that pits should not be taken to grooming facilities. Do not be offended, obviously I worded it wrong.

And don't take offense. I love pits and hope to own one some day. I didn't think about that fact that perhaps people may have trouble bathing dogs themselves. I was just not understanding WHY someone would take a dog with such a short coat to the groomers (when from my perspective it seems so easy to clean, considering I do all my dogs grooming and they have longer hair). I did not consider that, so my bad.

~Tucker

If any dog came after my puppy and killed it, I would definately want the owners fined. Breed doesnt matter in my opinion. No dog should go out of its way to kill another dog. Pits are dog aggressive, but I dont think one would hunt down another dog if it wasnt properly socialized or bred. Being challenged by another dog or defending itself is another story... I dont think thats the case in this story but I could be wrong. Just my opinion.

Just wanted to add something about breeding. Dog fighting is illegal. There is no use for it, so I think dog aggression should be bred out as much as possible. I think the least aggressive pits should be bred.

I also think that this wouldnt have happened if the employees were doing their job.