Germantown, TN - An employee of a Germantown dog grooming business faces an animal cruelty charge in the death of a mixed Yorkshire Terrier.
Chris Carmody, stepson of Pet Set owner Laura Carmody, appeared in Germantown Municipal Court on the charge Wednesday night. The case was continued to Aug. 3
The charge led to several other dog owners saying their pets were mistreated at the business -- claims Laura Carmody denies.
The charge against her stepson is based on a complaint by Betty Fry, the owner of the 3-year-old Yorkie mix, and a statement from former Pet Set employee Theresa Bourgeois that Chris Carmody struck the dog in the head with his fist.
Fry, who has a reputation for taking in strays, volunteering at the Germantown Animal Shelter and facilitating adoptions, said the dog named Mikey began having seizures after an April 22 grooming session at Pet Set.
They eventually got so bad that Mikey died six days later.
"We were just horrified to have to witness our dog floundering about, losing the ability to walk," Fry said, "having more and more frequent seizures, having to be continually sedated and then finally having to euthanize him."
Chris Carmody's attorney, Jeffrey Jones, thinks it is a case of an ex-employee unfairly accusing Carmody of an attack. Laura Carmody said she doesn't believe any incident in her shop at 7849 Farmington led to the dog's death.
"I don't think that's what happened," said Laura Carmody, who has groomed dogs for more than 40 years. "We're not in the business of trying to hurt dogs up here.
"We're going to fight this," she said prior to Wednesday's court date.
According to police records, Bourgeois, 40, said Carmody struck Fry's dog several times. A short time later, she found the dog unconscious. Laura Carmody performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to revive the dog, the records state.
Bourgeois, who left the business shortly after the alleged incident, confirmed the information in the police records, but declined further comment.
"It's hard for me to believe someone could beat a dog to death within 20 feet of me," Laura Carmody said, "and I wouldn't want to think something like that would happen."
Mikey's death and the charges against Chris Carmody have fueled other complaints. Michelle Musgrove has acted as spokesperson for complainants. She happened to be at Pet Set and held Mikey prior to the grooming session, and she said she thought he looked fine.
"I was holding him, and he was kissing me," she said. "His eyes were clear. He was happy and his feet were just going. There was nothing wrong with him."
Musgrove, who is from Germantown, said she saw one of the employees jerk a dog off its feet while walking the animal in the parking lot.
"This just has to stop," Musgrove said.
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