CA Groomer Arrested on Suspicion of Animal Cruelty

[GroomerTALK Coordinator]

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_29900868/san-mateo-pet-groomer-arrested-animal-cruelty

SAN MATEO -- A pet groomer was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty after a 1-year-old Dachshund died in his care, police said Monday.

San Mateo police responded to a report that a dog died about 5:15 p.m. Sunday at the PetSmart store at 3520 South El Camino Real, police said.

Officers spoke with the dog's owner, a 47-year-old San Mateo man, who said he brought Henry, a 1-year-old male Dachshund, to the pet supply store to be groomed.

About 3 minutes later, the pet groomer came out from the grooming office and said that the dog was having a medical emergency. The dog was bleeding from the mouth and having difficulty breathing.

The groomer Juan Zarate, 38 of San Francisco, brought Henry to an on-site veterinarian who took emergency measures as an attempt to help the dog, police said. The Dachshund died a few minutes later.

An X-ray of the dog showed it had two broken ribs and a punctured lung.................

[Brit]

3 minutes? Did he drop it, if not hit it?

[IrishSetterTom]

So tragic. I can imagine in my mind a happy puppy in the hands of a person with anger issues who snapped on this pup for no reason except he was miserable and has personal issues. He probably punched this dog who went flying off the table. That's the only way ribs were broke and lung punctured. This was no accidental fall from the table. That's all it took, a single hit.

This guy probably will get probation for murdering an animal. Sad.

[Stephen]

Terrible tragedy as you say Tom. California by the way is the most lenient state to allow pet owners to sue for pain and suffering. I saw $50,000 awards 25 YEARS ago. Of course it doesn't replace the pet at all but maybe the word will spread and save another pet. There really should be a registry of pet abusers easily accessed so this person doesn't groom again if proven guilty.

[Moo]

3 minutes? Did he drop it, if not hit it?

I'm waiting for more facts to come out. Three minutes isn't long at all unless he started doing the nails and reacted by throwing it at a wall. I think there's a chance that the dog was injured to begin with (dog fell out of car, or dropped by owner, for example), and the groomer noticed bleeding when he went to pick the dog up.

[bell]

I, too, feel there is more to it than what it says on the news. 3mins? My guess is he was trying to do the nails (we all know most Dachshund hates nails trim), maybe he was too rough with the dog ; maybe the dog was injure before he came in; maybe the dog fought with him and fall off the table or tub. Who knows? I don't think we should blame the groomer just yet.

[dmdogcare]

Yeah I agree wth moo and bell... It's hard to say exactly whose fault it is here, but I still think they did the right thing by arresting the groomer. If he's found innocent, then that's great he'll leave... But if they never arrested him & he's actually guilty, good luck finding him.

3 minutes seems like such a short time for something that serious to happen, but at the same time it's possible. What I'm thinking is that the owner maybe dropped him, he fell out of the car, or -hopefully not- abuses the dog and wanted to blame it on someone. More facts are needed, though

[Emma123]

I feel sad for the dog and the owner. If the groomer hit the dog, then he should be punished. The thing about broken ribs is that a dog or a human with broken ribs can be walking around like that. It's painful, but they can do it. So it's possible the poor dog had broken ribs when he entered the salon, and the activity of being put on the table caused the lung puncture? I don't know, but facts first before judgment.

[Bluedog]

There are two sides to every story. Just because the dog was injured in his care, doesn't mean he did it on purpose and out of anger. Accidents can happen to the best of us.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[IrishSetterTom]

All I can say, take a look at this guy. I'm not to judge but my gut feeling is this was abuse. This puppy did not come in injured, no way. Punctured lung doesn't happen from a accidental fall. If he was arrested, there's more to it than we read. These injuries are what they call blunt force trauma. It only comes from striking with force with an object or in this case, probably the human fist.

[GroomerTALK Coordinator]

Officers Determined Groomer's Actions Were Intentional

Unfortunately we know more.........

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-petsmart-groomer-arrested-20160517-snap-story.html

"Officers determined Zarate’s actions were deliberate and likely contributed to the dog’s death, police said. He was taken into custody on suspicion of felony animal cruelty."

[coldnose]

You cannot always judge by looks, but those eyes had a scary, impatient look in them. Poor little dog.

[Brit]

Sounds like a very costly lawsuit coming for the store because CA has given some of the highest awards ever for pet owner pain and suffering according to Admin, I bet 6 figures.

[Stephen]

I would think so too. I know of at least 2 cases at $50,000 or more in CA and those were many years ago now. Sad. California also has case history of groomers that have literally beaten dogs to death, some of those prior to being able to sue for pain and suffering. Scary thing is this groomer will likely be blocked from grooming in the future, but he only has to move out of state and can groom. It is not perfect system, but googling someone's name or basic background checks using online vendors that check criminal records is sometimes the right thing to do if you have any suspicions when you interview.

[Stephen]

Update News Story

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Dogs-Regular-Groomer-Speaks-Out-on-PetSmart-Death--379879561.html

This store has had other problems.............and an attorney is representing the pet owners.