Groomer in Dog Mix-up Makes Changes

[Admin]

http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/21590/

After a mix-up at a local pet groomer's shop led to the disappearance and death of a woman's dog, the business owner said she is taking new precautions to make sure it will never happen again.

[windywaycavaliers]

Very sad all the way around.

[fiveoclockdog]

This happened at P***** Kennels in Toronto way back in 1977. Nothing tragic occured. The children of one owner realized they had the wrong dog when they were half way home and she turned around. Busy, volume, and an overworked staff were the catalysts. I know because I was an enployee there then.

[Alice]

very good reporting

I'm so glad to see something written that emphasized the groomer's side of the story, highlighting how upset she was and the measures she took to make sure this would not happen again. This article could easily have been spun the other way, and I applaud the journalist who wrote this article. Very sad story, obviously, but better to look at the lessons learned than to point fingers and encourage lawsuits.

[mylady]

It happened to me once, well, to my employee. One owner made it to the parking lot before they realized and the other never realized til we called them and asked they bring the dog back. These weren't even pure breds, two mixes that looked identical and on xmas eve, the day all mistakes seem to happen. thankfully all was okay in the end. The owners even understood because THEY couldn't tell them apart and the only reason the one realized it wasn't hers was because her dog was deaf and this one startled in the parking lot by a noise.
So very sad, and usually something that happens when things get too crazy.
We had a boarding kennel mix up two dogs from the same family. One was diabetic so they were giving insulin to the wrong dog. We were their vet so when the one dog went into shock they called us and the one had to be PTS. The owners were notified and when they came to pick up "Lightening", the non-diabetic, they told us it was "Champ" the diabetic! They were even wearing those colored name badges, but someone had accidentally put the on the wrong dogs.

[Particentral]

Happened in here not long ago. My son was helping out close up and Oreo's dad came in and pointed at Zeke, saying "I'm here for him" and since Oreo was in the baCK ROOM and Brian didn't know better we sent Zeke home with Oreo's dad. We still groom both, thankfully, and the Dad got chewed OUT for not knowing his brindle dog (oreo is Brindle) was not the black and white one he pointed out......Brian won't release dogs anymore.

Sorry it turned out badly for her but so glad that the article covered it fairly and honestly.

[Debbiedogs]

Heart aches...

Oh, gosh, how sad. And mix-ups can be incredibly easy to do!! I had one years ago where the young girl walked in an hour early and I asked her "Are you here for Buffy?" and SHE SAID YES!! Her dog's name was not Buffy. Her dog did not LOOK like Buffy. But Buffy was due to be picked up, so I asked the girl if she was here for Buffy. (The other dog was not due to be picked up for an additional hour...) I give her Buffy and she leaves.

Ten minutes later, Buffy's owner comes. Is perplexed that someone else picked up Buffy. I scan back trying to think of people dropping off in the morning, and I phone the owner of the remaining dog. Mom answers, says daughter is walking dog home (was picked up after school). Daughter gets home, Mom calls and is absolutely stunned!! "How could she bring this dog home?? It doesn't even LOOK like our dog!!" (That's what I wondered - Buffy is hyper, overweight, cream-colored, wimpy-coated Min Poo with docked tail. Dog they brought in was grey and white Lhasa Mix with full, plumey tail, straight hair, shorter legs). Daughter's excuse was that the dog always looks different after grooming.

Buffy is brought back - all is well. Except maybe Mom started to watch for daughter being on drugs...

Another incident at the vet where I worked resulted in an exchange of two silver Toy Poos, one with a very bad heart condition. Fortunately it was resolved with both dogs still alive.