Video of worker hurling dog to the floor forces Los Angeles pet shop to close
A Los Angeles pet shop is closing after a video of a store employee throwing a dog to the floor went viral.
Bark n’ Bitches wrote in an Instagram post that the store will close by the end of the month due to pressure from Los Angeles Animal Service.
“It is with great sadness, and certainly not by choice, that this magical, love filled shop has been forced to close as a result of the pressures put on me by LAAS (Los Angeles Animal Service),” read the caption. “We will be vacating by the end of the month. We started our venture in 2006, and never would I imagine what this 1,400 square ft. store, would become.”
A video, which went viral in November 2019, caught a store employee throwing a dog to the floor. The video was first posted by Twitch user Royce Thomas, according to Newsweek.
“The dog basically got launched from its head, and it was upside down in the air, and came down on its head,” Thomas said.
In response to the incident, shop owner Shannon von Roemer wrote in an Instagram post: “There was an inexcusable incident in the shop tonight. We will not tolerate this or any actions that put our rescues in harms way. The appropriate actions are being taken. This is NOT what we stand for.”
In the caption, von Roemer also said that the dog has been taken to a veterinarian and is doing OK.
“My deepest apologies for this incident,” she wrote. “The dog was playing and acting normal after this horrific incident. She was taken to the vet and was cleared 100%. We are grateful. #rescuedogs #inexcusable #rescuedogsrule”
Von Roemer also said in a video that the employee has been fired.
After the video, Los Angeles Animal Services launched an investigation, according to ABC7. LAAS declined to comment, according to the television station.
“LAAS has 17 of my rescued dogs and puppies stuffed in their overcrowded cement jungle, lonely and scared,” von Roemer wrote in an Instagram post. “It is now day 23 of them holding my happy healthy dogs hostage after they seized them on January 17th.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 3:10 PM with the headline "Video of worker hurling dog to the floor forces Los Angeles pet shop to close."