PAUPACK TOWNSHIP -- One day after our story on a dog killed by another dog at PetSmart in Lackawanna County, other groomers are reacting to the story.
Lisa Fennell has been grooming people's pets since the early 1980s. She owns Canine Connection near Lake Wallenpaupack and saw the story on Newswatch 16 of a woman from Lackawanna County who lost her dog Brewster following a visit to PetSmart in Dickson City.
"Very sad, each animal that's somebody's fur baby, they become so attached, if anyone has an animal they know they give unconditional love," said Fennell.
Fennell went to school to understand animals and does everything she can to prevent dogs from harming one another.
"You never put a pit, large animal around small animal because they want to dominate the small animal. The small one, all he has to do is, 'Heh, no.' They'll show them who's boss," she added.
Fennell's dog, Darrell, stays around the grooming station most the time, but she keeps dogs separate from other dogs using cages making sure they don't come nose to nose.
"When someone walks in the door, Darrell goes into a cage that he can't get out. Therefore only one dog out at a time," she said.
That's why Fennell has been training her employee Annie Walczyk for a year and a half so she understands the do's and don'ts of grooming.
"I feel terrible for whoever was there, for the family of the dog. You don't want to get that call that something happened," said Walczyk.
PetSmart's spokesperson did not respond to our questions; however, an employee said the grooming tables inside have been rearranged and dog owners face more questions about their pet before the store takes them to be groomed.