Complaint Review: Petsmart

I have a 12 year old chocolate lab who has been groomed by the same groomer every three months since he was a puppy.With his old age, and a serious blow out of his undercoat, I thought the furminator treatment at petsmart would buy me some extra time between groomings.

I brought him in, where they looked him over to make sure he was clear of any injuries, and then left for an hour and a half while he had the treatment done. When I picked him up, he was panting, whining, and pulling on the leash to leave, which I chalked up to him being in a new place. I took a picture of my freshly groomed dog to send to my mother, and it wasn't until the next day when he woke up with his eye swollen shut that I again reviewed the picture and saw that his eye had looked irritated when I picked him up. I called petsmart, where they told me to bring him to the vet, and if the vet found them responsible, they would cover the vet bill.

The vet diagnosed him with a severe ulcerated cornea from either a fingernail or a saline eye drop bottle, (the groomer told me they flush their eyes before and after every grooming in case they get a hair in their eye.) the vet found the groomer to be responsible, and the manager paid the vet bill along with the cost of 2 antibiotics and an ointment for the ulceration".

I was disappointed the woman wouldn't admit what she had done until after I filed a report, but was pleased with the quick response and professional handling of the situation.. Two days later, all of the hair on my dogs back end was falling out,. Hot spots. Three of them. One the size of a dinner plate. Another rush to the vet, where they shaved him and found abrasions consistent with an aggressive brushing with a sharp deshedding tool!. Again, the vet found the groomer at fault, but this time, the manager basically told me to piss off and that a hot spot could occur from a number of things. I agree, only my dog is 12 and has never had a hot spot in his life. 5 days after bringing my dog to petsmart, he is on 5 medications, which is unreal to me considering my dog has never been to the vet for anything other than vaccines since he was 12 weeks old.

My dog is in an immense amount of pain physically, while I suffer emotionally knowing my best friend was abused by someone I trusted to make him comfortable. I will no longer bring my dog to petsmart for groomings or anything else, for that matter.