Local

PETCO employee fired after video of rough grooming

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A local Petco employee is out of work, after a woman posted a viral video that appears to show the worker “roughing up” one of the dogs on the grooming table.

“When the dog still wouldn’t calm down and give him his paw, he kind of just started pulling on the paw, and using his body to push the dog around the table,” said Hanna Marie Pellissier, a Decatur woman, who shot the video, while she was at outside store.

“I looked up and saw through the window the guy in the video, trying to clip the dog’s nails and the dog was pulling away,” Pellisier said.  “I wanted to see Petco stand up and do the right thing and I think they did that.”

Petco released this statement:

At Petco, the health and safety of pets and people is always our top priority, and we take full responsibility for all animals under our care. There are strict grooming protocols in place to ensure the safety and well-being of pets, and we are very concerned by the conduct of the groomer in this video. As such, after a thorough investigation, this employee is no longer at Petco. We are in contact with both the concerned individual who took the video and the pet parent and can confirm that the dog is home and in good health.

We appreciate the outreach from the pet community, and look forward to continuing to serve you.  Please continue to reach out to us if you have any additional questions or concerns.

The video went viral, and Petco was inundated with concerned customers.

“I’m pretty shocked that someone would do that right in front of a window, people love their pets around here, and if I saw someone doing it to my animal , I’d probably be furious,” said Jason Rudge, a customer.