Caught On Camera: Petsmore Accused Of Negligence After 5 Month Old Puppy Dies Under Their Care

By Quinny Tan  •  15 Oct 2021 in News

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Petsmore Kota Damansara is currently being accused of negligence due to the death of Peanut, a toy poodle belonging to a couple from India.

The couple had left Peanut in the hands of Petsmore KD before flying off for a short trip to Langkawi and returned to the devastating news of the passing of their beloved 5 month old pet.

Jayanth Sridhar and Bhumika Gohil took to Facebook on Saturday, 9 October, to share their tragic account of what happened at Petsmore.

“We write this post with a lot of sadness and pain, having to go through the loss of our beloved five-month-old toy poodle puppy, Peanut, to shameful negligence from the staff of Petsmore.”

Watch the CCTV footage below. Trigger warning for animal death.

They had entrusted the store with Peanut for five days, and on the last day they received a phone call saying that there had been an accident.

“Upon reaching the store, we were informed that Peanut had passed away and that he had fallen off the grooming table,” Jayanth wrote.

The couple then requested to check the store’s CCTV footage to see what really went down, as they were hearing differing stories from Petsmore about what happened.

“We watched the CCTV footage on the day of the incident because they were telling us a lot of different stories – that he fell off the table, they had two dogs on one table, he was found on the floor, and more.”

Upon watching the videos, the couple concluded that Peanut’s death was due to workers’ negligence.

“Peanut shouldn’t have even been put on a grooming table as he has a cage or crate for which we paid.”

Jayanth said Peanut was still young and afraid of heights, especially if he was alone.

“Any animal handler will know this. The groomer was at an adjacent table and could have reacted faster or even kept him in her line of sight.

“He shouldn’t have been on a neck leash and left unattended while the groomer proceeded to other grooming activities. Rather than secure him in his crate, the staff put him on a grooming table with a collar and leash.

“Peanut slipped off the edge of the table and struggled for two minutes before choking to death,” he said.

Jayanth said he posted the video on Facebook to spread awareness about the incident, hoping that it will reach authorities for action to be taken against the store.

He also added that Petsmore KD issued a subpar apology letter, describing the events with justifications and facts.

Jayanth said the letter was “diluted” and was only received four days after the tragic event.  Moreover, he added that Petsmore did not offer the couple any form of compensation.

Releasing their own statement, Petsmore told SAYS that they regret the incident and it was to be blamed on the groomer’s carelessness.

“It was our personnel’s mistake and carelessness on our standard operating procedure (SOP), which pets should be leashed across the body but not around the neck only (sic),” they said.

“We sincerely regret that the on-duty groomer in the room was not alerted the first time, which led to a missed opportunity to save the puppy.”

Following this, Jayanth said that one of Petsmore’s staff found him a puppy to adopt after the incident. It should be noted that the puppy did not come from the store, but from personal help from the staff member.

“She asked us what we were going to do. We said we might adopt a puppy and if anyone knows a puppy that needs a home, we’d love to home it,” says Jayanth.

“She found one for us and helped us adopt. Petsmore had nothing to do with that.”

In response to this, Petsmore further stressed that they were fully responsible for Peanut’s burial fee and even sent him a poodle “as per his request.”

They rebutted that, “The customer definitely was not telling you the truth… He already took the poodle on 7 October from us. Don’t he think all these are not compensation? (sic)”

The operation team also reviewed and enforced the standard operating procedure to enhance their vigilance.

It is also stated that the female groomer who was responsible for this has tendered her resignation letter the day after the incident.