Family says dog was mauled to death at PetSmart grooming salon: 'He was bait'

Post Standard, Syracuse NY ^ | 11/08/17 | By Geoff Herbert gherbert@syracuse.com,

[Behind Liberal Lines]

A woman in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is claiming her family dog was mauled to death by another dog inside a PetSmart grooming salon.

Betty Miller told WNEP she dropped off her 12-year-old pet, a Bichon named Brewster, at the pet store chain's Dickson City location for an appointment on Wednesday. She got a call later that day saying Brewster was taken to the Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center when another dog allegedly attacked him in the store.

Brewster was pronounced dead on arrival by vets at the VREC in nearby South Abington Township. The animal hospital said "resuscitation efforts were administered, but proved to be unsuccessful."

"I felt so guilty the day it happened because we would say to him, 'You want to go bye-bye? And he'd hop in that car, and he didn't know it was going to be his last ride," she told the CBS affiliate. "It was hard, very, very hard. He's been with us for 12 years."

Miller said she was upset PetSmart's corporate office never reached out to the family, and blamed the company for treating Brewster as "bait."

"Why would you want to bring a pit bull past a small dog who's really just bait? He was bait," Miller told WNEP. "He was loving. He was gentle. He was funny. He was like a toy, and he loved everyone."

[Behind Liberal Lines]

The breed of peace strikes again!

[Ingtar]

Unthinking employees strike again as well.

[chris37]

No one takes care of my dogs other than me or the vet.

I will entrust them with no one.

[BenLurkin]

From the headline...just knew.

[bigredkitty1]

This breed has a strong predatory drive, regardless of upbringing or training. Not all are fur-wrapped killing machines, but many are.

[IronJack]

The employees need to demonstrate that they took reasonable and prudent precautions. If the animal escaped their control and injured another animal, that’s their defense.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I would say that PetSmart owes them an apology and some kind of monetary compensation.

[txnativegop]

am I being too radical here, but IMO the every pit bull needs to be found and put down, once and for all.

You simply can never know when any individual pit will snap, therefore none of them should be trusted.

[bk1000]

You simply can never know when any individual pit muslim will snap, therefore none of them should be trusted.

FIFY

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

I take my dog to a Petsmart for grooming and she gets good care. All of the groomers are young women, and some are pretty thin and small, so hopefully they have the strength or knowledge to restrain a dog that might get out of hand. Maybe there should be special restraint for risky breeds, or maybe owners of those dogs should be required to stick around during grooming.

[Rebelbase]

I had a tiny mutt that ran with a neighbor’s pit bull for a couple of years. The only negative was the tiny mutt thought it was a pitt bull when it came to other dogs.

[txnativegop]

thanks, but I didn’t think it necessary, since pit bulls and Muzzies share a common heritage of savagery. LOL

[9YearLurker]

That’s a rotten defense.

If they don’t have sufficient safeguards and practices, they shouldn’t take killers into their doggy salons.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Sad to say, but it’s a total risk when one takes one’s pet anywhere there are other pets. They are their own autonomous beings who have their own minds.

And frankly, I get tired of the litigious society demanding someone pay up, preferably the “rich” one. She should sue first of all the OWNER of the bastard dog.

If PetSmart proved to be pretty negligent, yes, I can see suing. But just because it happened there, no.

(No fan of PetSmart here; I’ll go but don’t like them much anyway, and less than Petco which is OK.)

Final note: no actual word on if this was a pit-bull terrier type. Doesn’t really matter here. Whoever did it is a dangerous dog.

[C210N]

Never point a muslim at any person. Always treat as if loaded, as it very well might be.

[Malsua]

Aww, that poor dog and the family :(

My wife and I own a bichon. He is a fabulous dog, we love him dearly. He takes the middle 3/4s of our King size bed :).

That said, when he was a pup, we took him to puppy play group a few times a month to get him familiar with other animals. Without fail, the bigger dogs would chase him around and try to nip his spine in front of his hind legs. We're talking puppies here, but clearly a Bichon sets off prey instinct. Fortunately, we keep an eye on him and it was only puppies, 6mo or less so no real harm done. It taught us to never let a big dog get around him untethered. Fitz is big for a Bichon at around 25lb but against a 75lb dog, he doesn't have a chance, his legs are too short to outrun the big ones.

[the OlLine Rebel]

*sigh* We don’t KNOW this was a PBT type dog.

The woman making a comment could be completely nonchalant about her language and just using it as a metaphor. It’s the only reference.

[43north]

That’s terrible. My wife’s 11 y/o Bichon Joshie was killed by coyotes a year ago. It’s been war against those sneaky bastards ever since.

Every time I see a pit bull in public I make sure my concealed .38 is within easy reach.

[McGruff]

They belong guarding Junk Yards not as pets.

[Sans-Culotte]

I have taken my dog to PetsMart for grooming or to stay in the Pet Hotel when I'm out of town. I may have to rethink this. Petsmart needs to implement some company-wide training to make it clear that all dogs in their care have to be protected from the bully breeds. Otherwise, they may as well put Michael Vick in charge.

I also don't like seeing people bring their dog shopping with them at Petsmart. Unless the dog is being dropped off or picked up there, I don't know why they bring them. Someone walking their little yapper could easily lose their dog to a pitbull that is not being restrained properly.