Pet groomer tossed cats into wall, left puppies in sink overnight, Florida police say
The owner of a pet grooming franchise in Florida has been accused of abusing animals at the facility after former employees said she threw cats into the wall and punched dogs as she groomed them, police said.
The owner and operator of a Woof Gang Bakery and Grooming franchise was charged with five counts of felony aggravated animal abuse and five counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, according to a March 13 news release from the Sarasota Police Department.
Four former employees of Woof Gang Bakery and Grooming told investigators they had seen the owner get violent with pets while grooming them, according to an arrest affidavit.
“Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming has a zero-tolerance policy for abuse of any kind. We want to make it clear that Woof Gang does not condone, tolerate, or in any way endorse such behavior,” a spokesperson for the company told McClatchy News in a statement. “While we can not comment on the specifics of the police investigation, we can confirm that we were contacted by the Sarasota Police Department and took immediate action to terminate Ms. Stevens’ franchise agreement. This location is no longer authorized to operate as a Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming location and is currently in the process of being unbranded.”
One employee said the owner would punch and hit cats and dogs when she got frustrated, according to the affidavit, and would tether cats by the neck.
The employee said doing that was “dangerous” because cats could break their necks that way, police said.
On one occasion, a goldendoodle was being “difficult,” an employee told police, and the owner said “this dog is a piece of (expletive)” and started to punch the dog in the ribs and abdomen while yelling other expletives to the dog, according to the affidavit. The employee stepped in to stop her, leading the owner to later apologize to the employee over text, police said.
Another time, the former worker said the owner was grooming a white Persian-ragdoll cat and when she “began slinging the cat around, she got scratched by the cat and began shaking it,” police said. She then “grabbed the cat by the scruff and swung the cat into the wall,” according to the arrest affidavit. The employee said she intervened and finished grooming the cat.
A different employee said they had seen the owner working with a red doodle who was afraid of the blow dryer, according to police.
“The red doodle urinated on itself and therefore had to be washed again. (The owner) became upset, she grabbed the dog by the scruff and threw it into the tub. (She) rewashed the dog, grabbed it by the scruff again and threw it across the room onto the drying table. (She) pinned the dog down and forced the blow dryer into the dog’s face,” police said. “The dog became so afraid, it defecated on itself and had to be washed again.”
The employee said at that point they stepped in and took over the grooming because the owner was so aggressive, according to the affidavit.
When she was not grooming animals, former employees said the owner bought several French Bulldog puppies in Georgia and brought them back to Florida to sell for $5,00 to $12,000 each, according to court records.
The owner left the puppies in their own urine and feces, the employees told police, and then put them in the sink and left them overnight so it would be “easier” to clean them up the next day.
One of the puppies choked while left alone overnight and died, according to the affidavit, and its body was kept in a box at the facility “until (the owner) figured out what to do with it.”
Police checked surveillance footage in the grooming areas which showed multiple cases of abuse toward the animals from the owner, according to the affidavit.
“We emphasize that all Woof Gang locations are independently owned and operated. This incident is not reflective of our brand, our franchise owners, or the high standards of love and care for pets that Woof Gang represents across all other locations. As fellow pet owners, we are devoted to the spirit and bond we share with our pets and have always made health and safety our top priority,” the company said.
The owner was arrested March 8 and taken into custody, police said.
Sarasota is about a 60-mile drive south from Tampa.
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