Have you ever taken your dog to the groomers before? If you have, we don’t blame you. As many pet owners know, there is nothing some dogs hate more than getting their nails trimmed or their hair cut, and many times, it’s better to just let the professionals take care of it.
After all, who better to get the job done safely and quickly than someone who advertises themselves as a professional dog groomer.
However, Sheriff Wayne Ivey from the Brevard County Sheriffs office posted a shocking story of animal cruelty on the department’s Facebook page a few weeks ago that proves you really have to be careful these days about who you trust with your pets.
The short version of the story?
A local groomer in the area got so mad at a dog while he was trying to groom it that he literally ripped the dog’s tail off.
Sheriff Ivey describes the encounter with the groomer, James Cordell Doughty Suthann, in more detail in the Facebook post:
“During a grooming appointment, Suthann became angry when an 8 year old German Shepard Service Dog would not stand still as Suthann was trying to complete the grooming process,” Ivey said.
The dog, “TT”, is a Service Dog who’s owner is a disabled veteran with PTSD, and like all dogs, TT really didn’t enjoy being groomed.
What a surprise!
“The entire incident is captured on video and at one point you see Suthann cinch the pets head down so tight that the dog could no longer move and was obviously in pain. Further in the video, Suthann grabs the dogs tail and completely lifts him off the ground causing the pets tail to be twisted a full 360 degrees and to be broken to the extent it could not be reattached.”
While Sheriff Ivey refrained from posting the video on Facebook because of its shocking nature, part of it was released by News 6 Orlando later on in the day.
We’ve included some screenshots from the video so you get the idea, but we have to say, it is pretty hard to watch.
“To make matters worse at the end of the incident Suthann had the audacity to strike the dog in the back of the head with the nozzle from the hose he was using to bathe him.”
The part of the video where TT is struck in the back of the head with the hose nozzle still has not been released and it’s probably for the best. Seeing the man twisting the poor dog’s tail is already bad enough.
When the dog was returned to the owner afterward, she immediately had to be taken to the vet. As part of the emergency surgery they completed, it was unfortunately necessary to amputate poor TT’s tail.
While the dog is now trying to recover, the sad fact is that what was supposed to be a routine trip to the groomers has now negatively impacted the pup for the rest of her life.
The only saving grace to this story is that the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office was able to track down and arrest Suthann very quickly.
“Unfortunately, the maximum bond that could be placed on Suthann was $2,000.00, because they don’t let me personally set the bond amounts for criminals like this guy!!” Ivey said.
“As I have said before…if you harm an animal in Brevard County we will take your butt straight to jail!!”
As soon as the grooming facility found out about the incident, Suthann was instantly fired, and they will be taking greater precautions in the future to make sure something so horrible never happens again.
For the full story, make sure to check out the original Facebook post below from Sheriff Wayne Ivey.
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IF YOU HURT AN ANIMAL IN BREVARD COUNTY I WILL PERSONALLY WALK YOU INTO OUR JAIL AND SLAM THE DOOR BEHIND YOU!!Earlier…
Posted by Brevard County Sheriff's Office, Florida (Official) onMonday, February 25, 2019
