A Pittsburgh woman has filed a new lawsuit against PetSmart over her toy poodle’s death, as surveillance video reveals the horrific moment the pup’s neck was crushed while being groomed in a 2020 incident.
AJ Ross said she is still traumatized two years after an incident that resulted in the death of her beloved 12-year-old poodle Kobe, while he was getting his nails trimmed.
But on Monday, the CBS sports reporter shared distressing surveillance footage from PetSmart on Twitter, hoping it would lead to permanent changes to grooming practices nationwide.
In the video, Ross’ poodle can be seen struggling against restraints on the grooming table inside the PetSmart in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood on November 17, 2020.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, Ross was not permitted to wait in the grooming area, so she left to run an errand nearby. When she returned, Kobe was lifeless on the grooming table. She rushed the pup to a nearby vet, but he could not be saved.
Ross filed a new lawsuit this week against PetSmart and two former employees, Julie Miller and Elizabeth Doty, claiming the tethers used on her dog led to his strangulation and death.
The lawsuit alleges the pup was ‘in obvious distress and panic,’ but neither woman did anything to help him. When they removed the tethers, Kobe collapsed. The two women face trial in October for animal cruelty charges.
Two dog groomers face trial in October on animal cruelty charges over the death of a 12-year-old toy poodle named Kobe who was tethered in a way that led to his strangulation and death
‘Kobe meant everything to me. I don’t have children, so he was like my child. He was literally like my shadow. Life without him has been weird because he was ever present,’ Ross stated
‘The civil case is just to bring accountability to this situation, justice if there can be any slim measure of that,’ Ross told KDKA. ‘But nothing is going to bring Kobe back.’
According to the lawsuit, the video shows ‘Kobe being placed on a table and having two tethers placed around his neck, one suspended from a bar above his head, preventing him from lowering his head or moving it too far to the side, and one traveling beneath his neck, preventing him from moving his head upwards.’
Elizabeth Doty and Julie Miller ‘began to trim Kobe’s nails and eventually turned all four of his legs to the side, suspending him over the surface of the table, in effect hanging Kobe by the neck while they trimmed his nails,’ lawsuit alleges.
But Ross says when she returned to pick Kobe up, he was lifeless on the table and the employees told her he had ‘passed out and went limp’ during the appointment.
‘I scooped him up and I ran out of the store… because I thought if I could just get him outside and get him some fresh air maybe he would start breathing again,’ Ross told Action News 4.
‘But he was just, like, lifeless in my arms’.
Ross rushed Kobe to a nearby veterinarian where he was pronounced dead.
A heartbroken Ross was told by PetSmart groomers that Kobe had ‘fainted’ as he was getting his nails trimmed.
‘He didn’t have a voice,’ she said. ‘There was no sense of urgency after this happened. I was lied to once I picked him up.’
The sports reporter wasn’t convinced and demanded that she watch surveillance video showing Kobe being groomed.
The footage left her stunned.
In the video, Ross’ poodle can be seen struggling against restraints on the table inside the PetSmart in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood on November 17, 2020
Ross told Action News 4 that the two leashes that were tethering Kobe in different directions ‘extended his neck and choked him’
‘They had him tethered to a leash [one way] and tethered him to the end of the grooming table [the other way], so his neck was being hyperextended in different directions,’ Ross told KDKA.
According to Ross that caused Kobe to become suspended above the grooming table.
‘He was hanging for over a minute. He was struggling and being tortured. They didn’t do anything, they just kept cutting his nails.’
Ross previously Action News 4 that the two leashes that were tethering Kobe in different directions ‘extended his neck and choked him.’
In the lawsuit filed by Ross this week, she claims ‘PetSmart failed to take the necessary measures to eliminate and/or minimize such injury and harm to pets, including, but not limited to, improving training, supervision, and certification of its groomers.’
‘I hope that PetSmart overhauls their hiring and training practices,’ Ross added. ‘It’s very evident in the surveillance video that those two groomers seemingly had no idea what they were doing and didn’t care that my dog was suffering.’
The lawsuit also makes claims of negligence, negligence per se, negligent hiring and supervision, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of PA unfair trade practices and consumer protection law, breach of implied warrant of good faith and fair dealing, and fraud.
Ross told KDKA that she wants other pet owners to be aware.
‘I’m not going to let this go unanswered,’ Ross said. ‘I want other pet owners to be aware and find people that are professionals and really care about animals instead of trusting a big box brand seems to not care about who they are hiring or how qualified they may be.’
The lawsuit also contends that PetSmart has shown a pattern of abuse and cites 47 incidents reported to Consumer Affairs regarding alleged injury and death caused by PetSmart groomers.
Ross called it ‘a pervasive pattern that needs to be rectified.’
‘The purpose, really, is to shine a light and force transparency in the hiring practices and training of PetSmart employees,’ Ross told the Tribune-Review. ‘I think the lawsuit vividly lays out how many dozens of cases have come to pass.’
In a statement to KDKA-TV, PetSmart said, ‘All of us at PetSmart are heartbroken by the loss of Kobe. Following an internal investigation, the associates involved are no longer employed by PetSmart. Out of respect for all parties involved, we have no further comment at this time.’
Kobe’s airway was allegedly crushed when he was tethered in to different directions causing him to become suspended above the grooming table
The employees have all been fired by PetSmart. The East Liberty location is pictured
Ross (pictured on assignment for CBS) remains heartbroken two years after the death of her beloved pooch, Kobe
The former employees are facing criminal charges following the incident.
Doty and Miller are both charged with two counts of cruelty to animals and two counts of neglect of animals. Their court appearance is in October.
