Max, a 4-pound Yorkie, was bitten and killed by a terrier while staying at a pet resort.
Tampa, Florida -- Bayshore Grooming and Pet Resort had a card in a Scottish Terrier's file that warned kennel staff the dog boarded by them would bite people. But they maintain he wouldn't bite other dogs.
Max, a 4-pound Yorkie, might disagree. Max was bitten and killed by the terrier while they were both at the pet resort.
"Imagine dropping off your pet for a few hours and never seeing him again," said Sherri Ligori.
She doesn't have to imagine, she knows exactly how that feels.
Ligori dropped off her dog Max at Bayshore Grooming and Pet Resort for the afternoon, and he was killed instantly when a larger dog bit him on the head.
"I left him there happy... I left him a few short hours, and that's how I expected to pick him up. I never thought it was going to be the last time I would see him alive," said Ligori.
"In 13 years of business, we have never had another complaint to animal services. They have seen the video and closed the investigation. We are very sorry about the death of this little dog," said Bayshore Grooming and Pet Resort's attorney, Mina Morgan.
"They knew each other and had played together off and on for two and half years with no sign of aggression from either dog," Morgan said back on Nov. 9.
But Ligori disagrees.
"That's not the truth. They didn't know each other and they never played together. We had no idea this dog even existed."
Ligori's claim is backed up by a former employee Rachel Markarian.
"It just makes me angry that they would lie and the lawyer would say they were friends for two and half years. That's a straight up lie," said Markarian.
Identical sworn affidavits from two current employees maintain they had observed Max and the terrier, named Hershey, play together from time to time without incident.
Markarian said the dog that killed Max was a difficult dog.
"He's very picky about who he plays with. He's had a history of snapping at other dogs and he has had a history of biting people. He's bit me on the back of my leg, he's bit the owner of course, and he's bit another kennel worker," said Markarian.
Markarian says Bayshore was well aware that the dog was aggressive.
"It says 'BITES' on his groom card. We were not allowed to groom it," said Markarian.
Felice Miles knows what the Ligori family is going through. Her family dog Buddy went to Bayshore for a grooming four years ago and when a family member went to pick up Buddy, his back legs were paralyzed. Buddy had to drag himself across the floor using just his front legs.
"They said, 'You brought him in that way,' and I said, 'No we didn't,' and in fact he ran in there. I had to chase him down the hall, because he went after the dogs," said Miles.
Two days later, Buddy's vet said the kindest thing to do for the dog was to put him down.
"That was my mom's dog. It killed me, because it was not necessary," said Miles, wiping away the tears.
According to attorneys for Bayshore, this is the first the owners are finding out about Buddy and because it happened so long ago, there is no paperwork to explain what happened. They don't doubt Miles' version of what happened, and they are working to give her some type of closure.
"We've had problems there plenty of times. The bathers, the groomers the kennel staff, I... everybody has tried to tell them," said former employee Markarian.
Sherri Ligori agrees and while she was grieving the first time we talked with her, now she's just plain angry.
"They are supposed to take care of that life, it's not a tangible item that you can replace. It's not, 'Oh the dry cleaner messed up your shirt, we're going to refund you.' That type of thing ... this is a life," said Ligori.
A life Ligori believes should still be a part of her family rather than a memory of a pet that died in a horrible accident.
Bayshore says it is changing its policy following Max's death, and will no longer take dogs as small as he was for doggie daycare.
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