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Four former PetSmart employees were charged with felony animal cruelty earlier this month in Pennsylvania after a poodle died during a grooming appointment last year.
Julie Miller, Shaphan Stonge, Elizabeth Doty and Heather Rowe have been charged with animal cruelty and neglect in connection with the November death of Emmy-award-winning journalist AJ Ross’s 11-year-old toy poodle, Kobe.
Days before Thanksgiving, the NFL sideline reporter took Kobe into a Petsmart location for a nail trim. Within the hour, her dog “was lifeless on the grooming table,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Pittsburgh Municipal Court, obtained by
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Four PetSmart employees in Pennsylvania have been charged with felony animal cruelty after the death of a dog, according to court documents.
Julie Miller, 32 and Elizabeth Doty, 21 were assigned to the grooming area of a PetSmart in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood when A.J. Ross, local CBS Sports reporter and Pittsburgh native, came in with her 12-year-old toy poodle Kobe for a nail trim on Nov. 17, as stated in court documents.
Due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, she wasn’t allowed to stay in the grooming area, so Ross went to the Walgreens next door. When she returned to buy a toy and treats for Kobe, she heard an intercom request for a manager to come to the grooming area.
Dog dies after grooming visit at PetSmart
“Kobe was a very loving and energetic dog,” A.J. Ross tells Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.
Ross took Kobe, a toy poodle, to the PetSmart on Centre Avenue in East Liberty for a routine nail clipping last November.
Ross was told she wasn’t allowed to be with Kobe during the appointment because of COVID-19 rules. Ross ran a quick errand, and when she came back, Kobe was lifeless on the grooming table.
“I scooped him up. And I run out the store, and I was overwhelmed when I left the store in the moment, because I thought if I could just get him outside and get him some fresh air, and I’m like shaking him, maybe he would start breathing again. And he was just, like, lifeless in my arms,” Ross said.
AJ Ross took her 12-year-old toy poodle, Kobe, to a Pittsburgh PetSmart to have his nails trimmed
When she returned, she found her beloved pooch laying lifeless on the grooming table
Management told Ross that Kobe had fainted while he was undergoing the procedure
However, she demanded to see surveillance footage, which reportedly showed the canine being tethered in two different directions and hanging in the air
Kobe s airway was effectively crushed in the process, according to investigators
Four groomers who worked for PetSmart have now been charged with animal cruelty; they have also been fired from the franchise
4 PetSmart employees charged with animal cruelty after poodle dies during grooming
Updated May 11, 2021;
Posted May 11, 2021
Kobe, a 12-year-old toy poodle, died during a nail clipping at a PetSmart in Pittsburgh in November 2020. (Photo courtesy of AJ Ross)
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AJ Ross collapsed on the curb, cradling the lifeless body of her toy poodle.
Her once spunky companion, Kobe, was limp in her hands as she shook uncontrollably, unable to comprehend what just happened.
Ross, 35, took her 12-year-old dog for a nail trimming at the PetSmart East Liberty location in Pittsburgh just before Thanksgiving 2020. The trip ended with her rushing Kobe to the nearest veterinarian, who pronounced him dead, according to court documents.