LAS VEGAS (KVVU/CNN) - A heartbroken dog owner in Las Vegas is deciding whether to sue PetSmart after she says she took her bulldog in for grooming, and 13 minutes later, the dog was dead.
Vikki Seifert says she took her 2-year-old bulldog Minni to a PetSmart location in Las Vegas a few days after Christmas. The dog was supposed to have a bath and get her nails trimmed.
The appointment usually doesn’t take long, Seifert says, so she walked around the store. Less than 15 minutes later, she noticed employees running toward the grooming area. Seifert quickly followed.
“When I went in, she was crushed under a grooming table, and they said that they listened for her heartbeat, and she was gone,” Seifert said.
Seifert said she dropped Minni off at 6:30 p.m., and she was dead by 6:43 p.m. She says none of the PetSmart employees could give her a straight answer about what happened.
“I don’t believe it was the weight of the table. It was the fact that it was electric, and it had crushed her to the point that the table was closed all the way on her, and then with it being unplugged, there was no way to raise it,” Seifert said.
The heartbroken owner still has a lot of questions about Minni’s death.
“People’s pets are their family members. She wasn’t just a pet,” she said. “What were these two groomers doing? Why did no one notice where the dog was at? Why was she under a table? How does a dog go in for a bath and get crushed within 13 minutes?”
Seifert says she is waiting for an autopsy report, as she decides whether to file a lawsuit.
A PetSmart spokesperson said in a statement that they have launched an investigation into Minni’s death.
“A tragic accident occurred in our grooming salon, which led to the heartbreaking loss of Minni. There’s nothing more important than the safety of the pets in our care, and we immediately launched a comprehensive investigation into how this type of unprecedented event could have possibly happened,” read the statement in part.
Seifert said the grooming table was unplugged and that's why it couldn't be lifted off her dog.
She is now waiting for an autopsy report and deciding if she'll file a lawsuit.