This is the moment a puppy falls off a grooming table at a pet shop and hangs to death by its lead for a reported seven minutes as a worker sits just feet away grooming another animal.
The incident took place at the Petsmore store in the township of Kota Damansara in the city of Petaling Jaya in the Malaysian state of Selangor earlier this month.
Jayanth Sridhar and wife Bhumika, who owned the five-month old puppy called Peanut, have accused the pet shop of negligence in a Facebook post after receiving a copy of the CCTV footage.
The video shows Peanut falling off a table and hanging from its lead while a worker grooms another animal nearby.
The couple said: “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.”
They explained that they took a short break and entrusted Peanut with the store until they returned on 5th October.
However, after arriving home, the couple received a call from the pet store informing them that Peanut had “passed away and that he had fallen off the grooming table”.
After reviewing the full CCTV footage, Jayanth said a worker moved her dog from the play area to take care of another client. Instead of placing Peanut in his crate, the employee allegedly put him on the grooming table.
The dog then fell off the table and was strangled by its lead while suspended in the air.
Jayanth claimed that her dog died after around five minutes of struggling and that another two minutes passed before the worker realised what happened.
After obtaining a copy of the CCTV footage, the couple took to Facebook to inform others and call on the local authorities to take action against the pet shop.
Jayanth said Petsmore sent him a letter apologising for the incident four days later that he called “diluted”.
A spokesperson for the store is quoted as saying: “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.
“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.”
The store also announced that the groomer and branch manager will be disciplined for breaching the SOP.
The pet shop also reportedly offered to pay for the Peanut’s burial costs and offered the couple a new poodle.
It is unclear if the couple plan to take the matter further and if the local authorities are investigating the store.
