WESTMINSTER, Colo. — Colorado animal welfare investigators have opened a licensing investigation into a pet grooming facility in Westminster after a dog lost an eye during a grooming session.
Jeannine Andasola and Gilbert McKay dote on their 12-year-old Chihuahua mix, Baby.
“He’s been our son since we got him,” McKay said with a smile.
In May, McKay dropped off Baby for grooming at Love Grooming, located at 9165 Lowell Blvd. at Westminster. He thought he was in good hands with owner Pablo Garcia.
“And then we got a call from Pablo, and he said, ‘You need to go and get your dog to the emergency pet hospital right away,'” McKay said. “His left eye popped out of the socket.”
Baby’s eye was closed and had to be removed after a few weeks.
“You can even see in one of his eyes, how sad and broken he is,” cried Andasola. “He just looked like, ‘Mommy, what happened?'”
According to the Westminster Police Department’s incident report, while it’s unclear how the injury occurred, groomer Christian Cunningham told investigators that while he was trimming Baby’s nails, he put the dog’s head in his armpit.
“In this position if he leans too much on the dog or if he pulls on the dog it could cause strangulation. Christian says he doesn’t know it happened but it’s the only thing he can think of that could happen. Christian says he feels bad. that the dog was injured in his care and volunteered to pay the vet bills,” the report said.
The report states Garcia told the officer he would “make it right” by paying the vet bills.
“All in total, it was over $4,000,” said Andasola.
When the couple approached Garcia about the bills, he told them his insurance wouldn’t cover the cost because Cunningham was an independent contractor.
“We have no idea if Christian is an employee or not. Pablo already told us that he is responsible because it happened in his store. I think he’s going back on his word,” Andasola said.
McKay said Cunningham and Garcia initially offered to set up a payment plan.
“I said, ‘No, that’s not acceptable. I have to pay this money, and if you want to make it right, just pay the vet bills and we’re all done,'” McKay said. “Now, they play it, ‘He will. No, he will. No, I won’t. He will.’ They won’t pay.”
“These people don’t even take responsibility for what they did,” McKay said. “I mean, why don’t they have insurance to take care of this?”
Contact Denver7 contacted Love Pet Grooming, Garcia, and Cunningham. After they did not respond to our requests for comment, we visited the store on Wednesday.
Garcia and Cunningham were inside working and declined an on-camera interview.
Cunningham said he tried to work out a payment plan with McKay, but McKay wanted to be paid in full. Meanwhile, Garcia said Cunningham was not an employee and confirmed that Cunningham was not covered by the shop’s insurance when the incident occurred.
Garcia said her attorney told her that McKay and Andasola could take them to small claims court, and if they win, they still have to get a payment plan. Garcia said he changed his insurance to include people who work at the store.
Colorado does not require insurance for grooming facilities, but the state’s licensing rules for groomers are complicated. If a groomer works in a licensed facility, they do not need to be licensed. If they are an independent contractor, they need a license.
According to records obtained by Contact Denver7, investigators with the state’s Pet Animal Care Facilities Act (PACFA) Program, which is under the Department of Agriculture, looked into the incident. During that investigation, Garcia told them that Cunningham was an employee. PACFA administrators said Cunningham does not have a license, which would be required if he is not an employee and is performing maintenance duties.
In a statement, PACFA said it has opened an investigation into the license status of Love Pet groomers.
“As a result of Channel 7’s investigation into an incident reported to PACFA by the Westminster Police Department on June 14, 2023, possibly involving the actions of an unlicensed groomer, PACFA has opened an investigation into the license statuses of the groomers. contracted by Love Pet Grooming. PACFA encourages anyone using pet-related services regulated by PACFA to view our Active Facility List on our webpage at https://ag.colorado.gov/ics/ pacfa [ag.colorado.gov] to ensure that you are receiving services from a licensed PACFA facility.”
If the state finds that Love Pet Grooming’s rules have been violated, the facility could face civil penalties or disciplinary action against their license. Cunningham could be issued a cease and desist order and could face criminal penalties for operating a pet facility without a proper license, according to PACFA Section Chief Nick Fisher.
Westminster PD said investigators do not believe the dog was intentionally injured. No charges were filed in the case.
McKay and Andasola say nothing can make their dog whole again, but they hope others can learn from their story.
“Every time we look at him, it’s a reminder that we brought him there to make him beautiful, and he came back disfigured,” McKay said.
“And it’s a reminder of the trauma she went through,” said Andasola. “We will never take him to a groomer.”
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