pixelguyxbl

I had my shih tzu (11 lbs) dog groomed last monday and around two
hours later I get a call from the vet/groomer saying that they injured
my dog.

When I got there I got the usually 'these things happen....bla bla'.
NO apologies, not a thing. They did offer a free shampoo next visit
(wow).

They told me the 'new' groomer had cut his paw. They gave me
antibotics for the dog and told to come back in 4 days for a checkup
of the injury. I told them I wanted a complete report on what
happen...till today they are still giving me the 'we're working on
it'.

I brought the dog home (one leg was completly bandaged up)...dog was
not well, not eating, looked like in pain. So I went to another local
vet next day to see what happened.

Dog had 4 stiches and a big chunck of paw had 'separated', this vet
said that they didn't stich up the paw right and it won't attach back.
Also they cut the dog in two other parts of his body (razor cuts,
small but big enough to draw blood and scab).

What's the best course of action to take so that this groomer (who
works at a fairly large vet hospital) does NOT do this to other pets?
They won't even apologize and admit their new groomer must be 'blind'!

My dog still won't walk on his bandaged paw much, this borders on
cruelty!

Ideas, or should I just leave it alone?

philip meech

You could file a complaint with the state licensing body, and send them
the vet bill. You would probably win in small claims court, but waste
alot of time. Find another groomer.

doug

What Fred said *AND* tell every pet owner you know what happened and tell
them not to take their pets to that groomer.
Hit 'em in the pocketbook.

buglady

.......I was kind of wondering who the heck had stitched and prescribed
antibiotics until I read that this groomer works at a vet hospital. Still I
wonder who did it. Are you a client of this vet clinic? I would write a
letter to the owners and give them a reasonable amount of time to give you
copies of all your records, including notes on stitching up your dog.

In FL at least, there are state laws for acquiring vet records - they need
to be produced in a reasonable amount of time and the clinic can charge a
fee for copying, but it must be a reasonable amount. No dollar figure is
given per page, though I have heard of vet clinics charging a buck a page
(not somewhere I'd go). If you get no response from a reasonable letter to
the owners of the clinic, hire a lawyer to write another letter for you.
Just the fact that it's on a law practice stationary usually produces
results, and isn't too costly.

Mistakes and accidents can happen to anyone. What happens afterwards is
telling however. A vet should have come out when you picked up your dog,
explained what happened and what they did and that there would be no charge
for that or for the grooming work, along with profuse apologies. The buck
has to stop somewhere and the vets should have made that clear. Since you
didn't get that, I'd never set foot in that practice again. Injuries that
severe I really think ought to be reported. Groomers have to be licensed to
do their work. I'd write a letter of complaint to the licensing board. If
you don't have this person's name, I'd include a request for the name in the
letter to the vet. I imagine you haven't heard from them because they're
busy trying to cover their butts. Some knicks and cuts are one thing - a
cut that requires 4 stitches seems pretty severe to me. For all you know it
might not have been a real groomer that did the work on your dog. I'd get
copies of records from the new vet too. You may be able to use them to
request payment for treatment of the injury.

buglady
take out the dog before replying

r

Like others I think you should report this what ever licensing board you can
find. I'd also try to speak to how ever actually runs the vet
hospital--there must be a chief administrator. If it were me, I'd file a
small claims case & name that administrator.

Even if you don't really want to go to court just filing may give you the
leverage to not only get that groomer removed, and get them to pay the cost
of treating your dog and getting the pup back to health. It's never a good
idea to just let these things go--think about what could happen next time to
some innocent animal..

Or, and I'd probably try this in addition to the small claims issue--get
together all your documents from the second vet and then call your local
news. Find out if you can speak to someone who covers consumer affairs and
ask if they want to run a news story on your poor injured dog.

Think of what reaction you'd get out of the negligent groomer's employer
when news cameras show up!

Don't call the place you had trouble with, don't give them any warning.
That only give them a chance to hide things.

jade

Oooh, that's a good idea. :0)
Cameras... that's better than 'word of mouth'
Jade.
PS: Please let us know what happens.