Not so Happy Tails...

This is an email that was forwarded to me from the owners who lost their dog at Happy Tails... (if you're in the Knoxville area you know the story...if not, read HERE...)


Friends:

Although this is difficult to write, I wanted to go ahead and share
the story of our beagle's death. Our dog, Moxie, was a healthy five
year old Beagle; she loved to bark at walkers, lie on our front porch
and have her belly rubbed by any and all visitors. She loved our
three children and just enjoyed her life. On Tuesday before
Thanksgiving, I called Happy Tails (a grooming and boarding business
located on old Ebenezer) to see if they could give her a bath. We
were planning on lots of family on Thanksgiving at our house and knew
Moxie would be in the middle of it. She has been boarded and bathed
there when needed for over five years. I dropped her off at 12:30 PM
and paid in advance because my 16 year old son was picking her up on
his way home from Bearden High School . He arrived at around 4 PM
and was told that she would be ready in a few minutes. After waiting
around 10-15 minutes, the owner, Eric Webb came running through the
lobby with our dog in his arms and told my son to follow him to his
father's office. My son, a licensed driver of two weeks, followed
Eric from their business, past our vet's office and traveled another
10 minutes to his father's office, Dr. Carlos Webb, Rocky Hill Animal
Clinic. They traveled at a high rate of speed and our son was
distraught and confused as to what was occurring. After arriving at
the office, our beagle was pronounced dead by Dr. Webb. The
explanation was that she had a seizure and died after being dried
from her bath. Our son called my husband and me on our cell phones
and we arrived as soon as possible (about 20 minutes). The owner's
wife, Sarah, did not call us even though she had all our
information. They also did not use our vet listed on our emergency
form. The owner, Eric, said he did not call because he was "busy,
trying to save your dog's life". The only discussion at the vet's
office while we were all still in a state of shock was whether to
cremate or have the city pick up our dog. They also discussed the
associated costs. We agreed to cremation around 5 when we left the
office.

The next morning, I visited our veterinarian to discuss the
situation. She immediately requested the body be released to her
staff. After first denying that they had Moxie they called back to
confirm that they were mistaken and she could be picked up. Dr.
Frazier, Northshore Animal Clinic, delivered her to UT for an
autopsy. She confirmed that Moxie had no history that would indicate
a seizure, etc. It was only after being notified by Dr. Webb that we
had her picked up, that we received a call from Eric to see how we
were. He assured me repeatedly that there was no foul play and that
she died of natural causes. He also offered to pay to buy us a new
dog, any breed we wanted. < /SPAN>The results of the autopsy were a
shock to us all. The cause of death was determined to be heat stroke
and blunt injury trauma. She had three cracked ribs and her liver
was lacerated and had bled into her stomach in an amount that would
cause death. Until we can investigate further, we will not know
exactly what occurred at Happy Tails. All I know is that we miss her
terribly and find it hard to understand why she had to endure such a
horrible death. It is a difficult situation to explain to our
children.

I have promised our children that her death will not be in vain and
that we will do all we can to share her story and hopefully prevent
others from suffering a similar loss. After our tragedy I researched
on the computer about Happy Tails and was shocked at the other
stories. You can google it and read those for yourself. I can only
ask that you do not utilize Happy Tails for any services for your
pets, even something as simple as a bath. Also, please check out and
ask for recommendations for any services for your pets. I never
thought this would happen and always felt safe leaving my pet in
their care. If you have any questions, or if you have a similar
story, please call or email me.

Please forward to your friends. Thanks for listening and give your
pets an extra hug today! They deserve our protection!

Kim Ramsey

(Tom, Ryan, Reid, and Abby Ann)

(address and number removed for this blog)