Posted on 01/22/2020 4:40:14 AM PST by simpson96
FLEMINGTON, N.J. - A Hunterdon County, New Jersey woman who made national headlines after claiming PetSmart groomers killed her dog is now apologizing.
In 2018, Scruffles the bulldog went viral after owner Danielle DiNapoli claimed groomers from PetSmart in Flemington left her to die.
Scruffles’ story made national headlines and DiNapoli's social media campaign, "Justice For Scruffles," quickly gained thousands of followers. Online petitions signed by hundreds of thousands of people condemned PetSmart's grooming practices and grooming safety bill "Scruffles Law" made its way to the New Jersey legislature.
But now DiNapoli is apologizing, writing in part on the "Justice for Scruffles" Facebook page:
"I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to PetSmart. I never should have said...that PetSmart killed Scruffles and for that I am sorry...I have since learned that other health factors caused Scruffles' death and PetSmart did not kill my dear Scruffles."
69 News found DiNapoli and PetSmart engaged in a lengthy court battle that began in 2018 when DiNapoli sued PetSmart for Scruffles' death.
A counter claim filed by PetSmart states DiNapoli refused to disclose the results of a necropsy report and that Scruffles’ outlived the average age of her breed and suffered from pre-existing health conditions. DiNapoli was ordered to pay PetSmart $30,000.
“PetSmart is very happy that we have finally gotten the truth out. And that the case has been resolved,” said attorney Thomas Clare, who represents PetSmart. “It was decided that an online apology would do the best job to set the record straight. And it also seemed to be the epicenter of where people that followed this issue continued to look."
(Excerpt) Read more at wfmz.com ...
For an ordinary middle class person, $30,000 is a lot of money. I believe the idea of such a settlement is to punish, not to reimburse PetSmart for the bad publicity.
I never heard of this case, and I shop there quite a bit. So, I’m not sure how much of the bad publicity was national and how much was local.
Dont trust any groomer that uses those devices .
Was it Pet Smart or Petco that did this?
Because I am aware of a dog being baked to death in the dog dryer at petco.
Boy , What a terrible way to go.
She told me Petsmart .
Its was a few years ago .
Really? How does that happen?
https://abcnews.go.com/US/dog-dies-left-petco-dryer-owner/story?id=31448304
This was the story related to Petco. I remember reading this when it came out, and right then and there I decided that my dogs would never go to any groomer. Just can’t do it, not worth the risk IMO.
Plus I’ve never seen them grooming German Shepherds there anyway.
Check my post #7 in this thread for link to 2015 story on how this occurred at Petco.
That is basically what the device was considering the dog’s condition at the time of death.
Yeah, probably not really their fault, and she was probably just lashing out in grief (never a good course of action), but I still don’t like PetStupid.
Heck I didn’t even like that they changed their name from PetStuff.
I resented all the big chains that turned up in the 80s/90s (staring with Animal Authority though that was small compared to and got sniffed out by the 2 Pets) after I got my show dog where we always had to rely on small local shops for serious dog food. I miss those people.
Groomers are Ok, but going to PetStupid for anything serious like grooming, babysitting, veterinarian OR “training” is begging for trouble. They are the PetsRUs of the pet world. They’re trying to cash in on everything.
I like Petco better but still won’t use them for any real services which are not as plentiful as PS. They are trying to be the end-all be-all which is just bad for real living animals.
I bought a nice muzzle from Petco. Pet SMart’s muzzles were garbage. That was the only time I ever shopped at Petco.
I have shopped at Pet Smart, but they are so stupidly overpriced on everything that I stopped.
I shop Chewy.com now for most dog items these days, dogfood is acquired elsewhere.
My wife’s cousin’s dog, some little fluffball type and young, died after a trip to the groomers, not PetSmart, though, a local.
It has been reported that these types use BENADRYL on dogs to essentially dope them up to work on them.
Too much and it will kill them....................
Will she make a donation to Planned Parenthood in the dogs name? /s/
Hey if it works, yes, I can see having trouble finding nice groomers.
My own wonderful local people had no problem. I did not need them so much for my German Shepherd, because it was a huge job of bathing her a total of 2 hrs EVERY week (they have bath tubs for DIY) and basically no brushing per se, but they were wonderful people who would do everything for you to help, including when I needed THEM to do it instead of me because of schedule constraints, etc. Of course, she was easy to work with - “built for” her major allergies, as her dermatologist said. They also never encountered problems while I bathed there for some 5 years (my sister referred me because she likewise had an allergic Shepherd earlier).
I do really miss my first local shop “Fur & Feathers” where I bought my “show” (LOL) dog her higher-grade food.
I will NEVER endorse “positive-only” “training” that PetSmart and Petco push.
Maybe on the little fluffers. I can see some trying that. Some might actually suggest it to the owners.
My own German Shepherd was allergic majorly to EVERYthing. Half way through her life the dermatologist suggested Benadryl as part of her regimen.
I was only concerned (and he because of her liver - which BTW she NEVER had trouble from meds like that) because Bennies make me very tired just on 1 pill.
He had her taking 4 at a time 2x a day.
But, it didn’t phase her. And never any liver problems from that or her other dermatitis meds (”she was built for this disease”). She did this daily for at least 6 years.
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