A German Shepherd allegedly died it was ill-treated at a canine grooming salon in south Delhi’s Niti Bagh market. The owner of the dog has filed a police complaint.
The police confirmed receiving the complaint and said they will take action following invetigation.
Dog muzzled
The complainant said he had taken his nine-year-old dog Max to the salon for a trim, bath, ear-cleaning and nail-clipping on May 13. The staff allegedly put a muzzle on Max and took it for grooming. The complainant claimed that the staff roughly lifted the dog on to a table.
The employees then allegedly asked the owner to wait outside, claiming that dogs got more anxious in front of their owners.
“After waiting for a while, one of the staff members told me that Max had broken the muzzle and had bitten someone. I was very apologetic and told them to leave the trim. However, the salon insisted on finishing the job. When I went inside to put the muzzle on Max, I noticed he looked tired and was panting,” the complainant told the police.
‘Hanging by chain’
“My daughter and I wanted to leave with Max, but they pressured us into staying longer. It was during that time Max fell from the table and was left hanging by a chain attached to his neck. Once again, the staff picked him up roughly and put him on the table. Suddenly, someone switched off the monitor my daughter was looking at to see what was happening,” he alleged.
‘Normal reaction’
“After the bath, they carried Max outside and put him on the floor. He collapsed with his legs splayed outwards. We got worried and told them if there was something wrong then we should take Max to the vet. But they repeatedly told us that we were overreacting and said this was a normal reaction for a dog after grooming,” he said.
He claimed they took Max home, but he barely moved for a few hours and refused to eat anything. In the evening, he vomited a bit of blood. The family inspected Max’s tongue and gums, which were badly cut. They also noticed that his tongue was blue.
“Around 9 p.m., Max got up with great difficulty and came to me. As he lay down near me, I heard a strange sound from his mouth. I got worried and rushed to give him some water. He vomited more blood, lay down and stopped breathing. My entire family is in shock,” said the complainant.
Max was cremated the next day.
CCTV footage
“We reached the canine care centre to ask them what they had done to Max. We asked for the CCTV footage. They refused at first but gave it after we shouted at them. When we saw the footage. It is shocking how Max was tortured,” said the complainant.
