Petco Dog Grooming Death: Case Closed

MIDDLETOWN, RI — The investigation into the death of Ollie, the pug, at the Middletown Petco is over and no charges are forthcoming against the groomers or the company. According to the animal cruelty investigator at the state Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Petco groomers apparently lacked "basic training" to deal with emergencies and insisted they saw no signs Ollie was in distress, even though the post-mortem tests indicated he was suffering a medical emergency.

Joe Warzycha, the animal cruelty investigator, said the RI SPCA was not happy about the employees' responses to their questions. But it can't bring charges because Rhode Island law currently lacks a negligence standard to prosecute animal cruelty cases. As the laws stand today, the RI SPCA would have to find evidence of malice, intent or recklessness. And state laws sets the bar for 'recklessness' very high.

"The interviews themselves were inconclusive and unfortunately did not shed much light on the situation," he said. "The employees did not paint a picture that seemed consistent with the medical findings from the necropsy. With that being said, in order to warrant criminal charges, we would have had to prove malice, intent or a level of 'recklessness,' which legally speaking, is complete disregard for the life of the animal. We did not find any of those elements to be present. There is no standard of "negligence" under Rhode Island law as it pertains to animal cruelty.

Asked why it took so long for RI SPCA to interview the employees, he said this:

"Considering the interviews were voluntary and Petco employees were under no obligation to speak with us, we were somewhat at their mercy. If prior to the interviews, we had established enough probable cause to warrant criminal charges, we could have taken them into custody more immediately. Keeping in mind, suspects are never obligated to speak with you and can always exercise their 5th amendment rights."

The employees involved in the dog's death were interviewed but almost two weeks after Ollie died. Meantime, Petco also released preliminary necropsy findings, announced the test results cleared their groomers from any wrongdoing, and asked RI SPCA if the investigation was over before the interviews took place.

"What seemed most evident after the interviews," he said, "was that the employees seemed to lack the basic training necessary to deal with medical emergencies that may arise during the course of their job duties. We can only hope that this unfortunate circumstance sheds light on that and the pet grooming industry can learn from it."

But there are still no answers about what befell the little dog at the grooming station.