Most dogs are not fond of blow dryers, which is why pet groomers use a quiet, hands-off method to dry them off after a bath. Drying cages are simply cages that blow hot air onto the animal inside. Users are not, however, supposed to put a dog inside and then leave the shop, and that’s what a Virginia dog owner accuses her local Petco of doing.

If her allegations are true, this would not be the first time that a dog had died while in a grooming cage. One owner whose pet died in a cage seven years ago campaigned for the contraptions to be banned, and Petco claimed at that time that while it continues to use dryer cages, they were no longer heated.

Yet TV station WWBT reports that the woman whose dog, Colby Jack the Golden Retriever, died after a grooming session in Virginia was told that the animal suffered from heat stroke. She called the store to check on her pet, and was put on hold for an extended period before being told to meet an employee at a nearby animal hospital. There, she learned that Colby Jack had died, and due to his still-elevated body temperature, the veterinarian declared that it must have been heat stroke.

The owner claims that the store told her they couldn’t reach the technician who had bathed her dog, since she had left to go to a graduation party and wasn’t answering her phone. They wouldn’t comment directly on the situation to the media. Both Petco and the local animal control department are now investigating the incident.

Woman says her dog died of heat stroke at Petco [WWBT] (Thanks, Ed!)

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