- One person no longer employed by PetSmart
- Investigation showed it was a dog attack, says PetSmart
JONESBORO, Ark. – In a statement released to media outlets, PetSmart said an associate was gone from the company because of the incident with the 10-month-old dog owned by Kaitlyn Weatherford of Newport.
Weatherford’s dog, Ziggy, was hospitalized on July 22 with serious injuries, as first reported by NEA Report. The incident occurred during a grooming appointment at PetSmart, 3009 East Highland Drive in Jonesboro.
Our investigation is complete, and we have confirmed this was an unfortunate altercation between the two dogs. We did, however, find there were policy violations in this incident and one of the associates is no longer with PetSmart. We are continuing to support Ziggy and his family while he recovers at home.
To see the graphic photos of Ziggy’s injuries, click these links. Graphic photo 1
Graphic photo 2
On July 24, Weatherford told NEA Report her puppy had returned home. While the dog hates the cone, it is for his own good to prevent him from chewing on his likely-itchy wound. Ziggy has been doing well since, she has updated several times.
Weatherford expressed her gratitude to the community and to the outpouring of support she has experienced over the past few weeks while talking to a reporter. She said handling the experience has been especially hard without her father who died last year.
Kaitlyn’s dad was Lt. Patrick Weatherford of the Newport Police Department – killed in the line of duty on June 12, 2017.
“He was always my voice of reason so I’m adjusting to handling things myself and I appreciate all of the help I get,” Weatherford said.
Bull shit that was not done by another animal that was a clean sharp lines around the neck . That was sizzor cute ,the person responsible should go to jail and close the pet shop that hired the person
It is very sad what happened to ziggy, the pain and suffering must have been tremendous for both Ziggy and his owner. I am glad that The puppy has recovered and doing better. And the employee who did this has been fired. Pet co did the right thing in my opinion and took all the proper steps to ensure this would not happen again . I know other people who take their pet to be groomed there and have never had any issues, I don’t think our community should let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch of good apples, so to speak. I would still highly recommend PetCo groomers to any of my friends and family. And I wish Ziggy and Miss. Weatherford many happy healthy years together, and can put this unfortunate incident behind them and move on. And hopefully valuable lessons have been learned,so Petco will not allow this to happen again to anyone elses beloved pet.