After Toms River Dog's PetSmart Death, Dozens Of Readers Speak Up

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Sammi Yezzo was working her shift as a waitress at Olive Garden when a co-worker came over and got her attention. You have to come talk to this customer, the co-worker told Yezzo. You have to hear his story.

The story was of Abby, a beloved corgi that had died during a grooming appointment at the Toms River PetSmart. Chuck Crawford, Abby's owner, was spreading the word about the 8-year-old dog's death on March 25, with the hope of steering people away from the big box retailers for grooming services.

"I was telling the waitress about it and she said, 'Hold on, the same thing happened to one of the waitresses here,' " Crawford said.

"It was the same thing that happened to Lulu," Yezzo said. Lulu, her 14-year-old Bichon frise, died Jan. 17 after passing out in the tub at the Toms River PetSmart, she said.

Yezzo's experience was one of dozens that have been shared by Patch readers in the wake of the report about Abby's death. More than 50 emails from all over the country came in with reports of incidents at PetSmart locations. Some were from pet owners upset because their dogs had been nicked with the razor, snipped with scissors or left with bleeding toenails after the nails were cut too closely.

Others, like Yezzo, had more serious issues.

Yezzo, 21, said she dropped off Lulu at the PetSmart and then headed out to run an errand while the grooming was done. Her boyfriend's phone started to ring and it was a PetSmart employee, telling her Lulu was being rushed to the Toms River Animal Hospital on Route 37 by PetSmart employees. By the time Yezzo arrived at the animal hospital, her childhood pet had died.

"Lulu, a senior Bichon frise, began experiencing breathing difficulties while in our care and was immediately rushed to the emergency veterinarian," a written statement from PetSmart said. "During our investigation following the incident, the pet parent confirmed that Lulu was having difficulty breathing before she was brought in for the service, and the pet parent did not disclose this to our associates at check-in."

"We know how difficult the loss of a pet can be, and even though we were not at fault, we offered to pay the vet bills as a gesture of goodwill and support," the statement said.

Yezzo, however, insists Lulu was "very healthy."

"She was perfectly fine when we dropped her off," Yezzo said Friday night. "And they never told us she was having trouble breathing."

She confirmed that the company paid the vet bill and said PetSmart offered to pay for a necropsy on Lulu. But Yezzo said she declined after hearing a description of the procedure. "They said it could take up to three months to get an answer. I didn't want to put her body through that."

>> RELATED: Dog Dies After Grooming At Toms River PetSmart

PetSmart, on its website, says it screens all animals when they come for grooming appointments and that it reserves the right to turn away any pets that are at risk of serious injury. It also offers express appointments designed for breeds known for breathing problems, and requires their owners to remain on-site as the appointments are usually 20 to 30 minutes long.

Tesla Corkill, a dog groomer in Idaho who has 26 years in the field, said the issue of stress on a pet during grooming is very often overlooked.

"Grooming is always an extra stressor to any pet," said Corkill, who is a member of the National Dog Groomers Association of America, which offers ongoing training and certification for dog groomers across the country. "Unfortunately, it is true that some pets do die suddenly of freak causes. We had a pet collapse in our salon a few years back of a heart attack. The dog had just been adopted from a shelter and the attending veterinarian said the weak heart had gone unnoticed until the dog went in for grooming and its stress levels went up."

"These are tragic occurrences that don't get talked about a lot in our industry, but perhaps they should be," Corkill said.

Susan Mitchell of Illinois, whose Australian terrier wound up with a broken blood vessel in her eye following a grooming session at a PetSmart, echoed that sentiment.

"I was concerned she had been nipped by the shears," she said. "The vet saw no indication of that, instead reporting the issue was likely undiagnosed high blood pressure, with the dog in a stressful situation. I was told by the groomer that she did take numerous breaks for the dog's comfort and i have no reason to believe she didn't."

PetSmart paid for the vet bill and she has never taken her dog back there, but Mitchell said her issue isn't PetSmart and she does not blame the groomer: "There just was no point to put my girl through that anymore," Mitchell said. "My dog had significant vision impairment when this happened to her at 10 years old, and I believe the experience was becoming too startling for her. For the others, it may be something that simple."

The death of Crawford's corgi, Abby, however, has only increased the determination of Lambertville resident Danielle DiNapoli to get PetSmart's grooming facilities shut down.

DiNapoli, whose dog, Scruffles, died at the Flemington PetSmart during a grooming appointment on Dec. 29, is organizing a protest at PetSmarts across the country on May 5 to push for the company to close them. "The recent death at PetSmart grooming in Toms River is one too many this must be stopped," she wrote on her Facebook page Justice for Scruffles. "Enough is enough and not giving pet parents written reports is beyond inhumane!"

It's not just the deaths that have so many upset, however; it's reports of cuts, burns and other rough treatment that have so many calling for changes.

Megan Pardi of Bridgewater said her 9-year-old pug Smeagol wound up with an ear infection that required a trip to the vet. "The day after his bath, my dog was scratching his ears excessively," she said. "My vet told me that not only was water left in Smeagol's ears but it was most likely an overly aggressive ear cleaning which caused the large cuts that got infected." The vet had to drain and irrigate the dog's ears, give him an antibiotic shot and an antibiotic ear cream, she said.

Kenneth Martin had issues with two different PetSmart stores. His Chihuahua mix was being groomed at the Mays Landing store when he received a call "telling me they had cut the dog's ear off. Very cold, very nonchalant, told me my dog was across the street at an emergency clinic." That injury was turned out to be less severe than described. At the Manahawkin PetSmart, a trip to have his Great Dane mix's nails trimmed turned into an odyssey. "The girl did not know how to trim the nails properly. A simple trip took her two hours," he said. "I rescue dogs many of them have had grooming at PetSmart and various groomers. I have to say I don't use PetSmart anymore."

Another woman, Lori, who did not give her last name, said her AussieDoodle named Percy had been to the Toms River grooming salon a few times without incident. But she had to stop taking him there after a grooming appointment where Percy had a panic attack that resulted in him having diarrhea in the crate. " I gave Petsmart one more chance after that. Percy cried from the minute we walked in the store, panting and pulling me in the opposite direction. I dropped him off to the regular groomer that I had used before and she said he would be fine once I left, so I went on my way. When I arrived back to pick him up, he was panting, crying, and drooling .. he was in a full blown doggie panic attack." The dog has been skittish ever since, she said, "and is glued to me."

Three former PetSmart employees from other locations around the country said they had witnessed incidents of rough treatment of animals.

Nancy Foster of Las Vegas worked for a PetSmart in Nevada last year, and said she left because some of the groomers' methods were "too harsh."

When animals would do "the alligator roll," writhing to try to get free from restraints, the groomers would leave them tied up. There was one woman, she said, who would heave cats back into the kennel if they scratched her while she was grooming them.

"Cats always do that," Foster said. "I left. It was a pretty short stint and I couldn't take it."

Mary Johnston said she worked for a PetSmart for three years and while there were cameras in the store where she worked, (she did not give the location) she said they did not work. "We were told 'corporate' didn't want to shell out the money."

Michelle Waterhouse, who did not give her town, said she saw similar issues at the Petco where she worked, where some groomers screamed at the dogs, ignored safety procedures for some breeds and treated them roughly. She left the job after two weeks, she said. "So many more awful and horrific things go on in those back rooms."

Barbara Raia Curto said her Yorkshire Terrier, Baxton, suffered a cut when he fell out of the sink at the Brickk PetSmart in 2013. She said she filed a complaint with corporate headquarters at the time. "This was very upsetting to us. They were not watching him while he was in the sink," she said.

There have been instances of rough treatment by groomers caught on video. In Houston, Texas, a customer witnessed rough treatment of a dog and after capturing some of it on video (see it at the bottom of the article), according to KHOU TV. The groomer at that PetSmart was fired shortly after the incident.

That and the deaths are why Rosemary Marchetto is continuing to fight for a law that will require state licenses for pet groomers. Marchetto's dog, Bijou, a 6-year-old Shih-tzu, died at the Paramus PetSmart in 2013. Bijou's Bill was introduced the following year but languished in committee. Marchetto said the bill is set to be reintroduced soon.

"Dog grooming is a completely unregulated industry which yields approx $5 billion in revenue and growing yearly," she said. "Bijou died during a routine grooming visit. There are far too many dogs dying at the groomers."

Jeffrey Reynolds, the executive director of the National Dog Groomers Association of America, said there are no state or federal regulations on the industry. That is why the organization promotes professional recognition and certification through continuing education workshops and testing around the country.

"You're only going to hear the bad stories" about groomers in situations like this, Reynolds said, but they are not the full picture.

"There are a lot of complex issues associated with regulation of the industry," said Corkill, the Idaho groomer. "It is important for everyone to be well informed so that if and when lawmakers decide to put regulations through, it is done in a manner that will protect and benefit both groomers and clients/client dogs."

Corkill said one of the ways to help ensure better experiences the pets is a method she now employs, where she requires clients stay with their pets during the grooming process, which takes about two hours, at least for their initial grooming appointment.

"They are welcome to stay at all subsequent appointments if they wish. At least this way, they get to know me and see how their dog behaves. This helps build trust, although it means I can only groom about half of the dogs that most groomers do per day," Corkill said.

PetSmart and Petco "are on the front lines," she said. "There are good things and bad things about big box stores that offer grooming. We all want answers and for someone to pay when a pet gets hurt or dies."

Pet deaths "do happen out of the blue, and know that Petsmart may have done everything they could to keep this pet safe. Hopefully, the lab reports will give some conclusive answers," Corkill said.

Sammi Yezzo and her Bichon frise, Lulu. Photo provided by Sammi Yezzo