A pet owner is fighting for pet groomers to be officially licensed after her beloved poodle died during a grooming appointment at a local PetSmart.
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AJ Ross made an appointment for her 12-year-old poodle named Kobe to have a simple nail clipping appointment in a town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When she returned to the store to pick up Kobe, she said he was lifeless on the grooming table. “I collapsed outside the store on the curb. I’m shaking him. ‘Please wake up, please wake up,” she told CBS New York. Ross rushed to a nearby animal hospital where they said he already died upon arrival.
Ross said PetSmart allowed her to watch a surveillance video to see what happened before Kobe died. “They tied him on the grooming table with two leashes, two contrasting leashes. The leashes get tighter as he’s, you know, struggling,” she added.
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After a further investigation conducted by PetSmart, the four employees involved in grooming Kobe have been fired and criminally charged. An independent medical examiner said Kobe was most likely strangled during the appointment after PetSmart conducted a necropsy at one of their animal hospitals, claiming there was no indicated cause of death. Now, Ross is fighting for a bill to officially have pet groomers licensed in Pennsylvania.