Hey Woofa’s,

I was watching A Current Affair on Monday night and saw a story that was a tad outrageous!

It’s named ‘Spoodle Switch’ by A Current Affair, and it’s about two Spoodle’s (which is contradicted in the story because they mention one is a Labradoodle) that get switched at the Groomers!!

Both owners admit to noticing changes in their dog once they were home.  One dog is called Coco and one is Rollo.

So Coco goes home with Rollo’s owner and vice versa, after their groom visit.

Coco’s original owner (who now has Rollo) notices changes in her dog!  Even her grandchild notices changes, so she rings the Groomer to ask, ‘what have you done to my dog’, and they say everything was fine!

Meanwhile, Rollo’s original owner, who has Coco, gets her dog back and is told to take it to the vet as it has a terrible ear infection.  Things get out of hand and this dog becomes very sick with seizures.   They eventually have to put him down due to a tumour.

They mention they didn’t notice changes because they were busy trying to find out what was wrong with him.  That’s feasible!

Hang in there because it gets worse.

Recently with all the New Year’s Celebrations, Rollo gets out because of the fireworks.  He’s picked up and scanned!!!  The original owners are called to come and pick up their dog.

They’re gobsmacked because they buried their dog 2 YEARS AGO, but they go and there’s Rollo!!!

They somehow contact Coco’s (who has now passed away) original owner and she hands Rollo back to them (because she thought Rollo was really her Coco)!

THE STORY THAT WENT TO AIR!

https://www.9news.com.au/…/news-melbourne-dogs-switched-pet…

WHY WAS THIS STORY EVEN AIRED?

It’s been two years since this happened and poor Coco has passed.  No matter who his owner was it looks like the tumour was there anyway.

So unfortunately it looks like he was passing no matter who his owner was.

It mentions that this poor Grandmother wants ‘Justice For Coco’, but they don’t really mention, what exactly that Justice is?

The Grooming Salon where this happened has apparently closed down.

So I’m left wondering what Justice she wants??

SOME QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE?

I’m not sure what you make of the story BUT I would like to know:

1. How can you seriously not know it’s not your dog;
2. both dogs have different coloured noses;
3. if one is a spoodle and one a labradoodle, they are different in sizes;
4. why take the word of the groomer (I say this as a dog owner and a groomer) that nothing is wrong?  When clearly, your dog is behaving differently;
5. why not take it to the vet to get checked and have the microchipping checked;
6. why didn’t the owner notice such an ear infection if the groomer is saying it needs to go to vet asap?  Then suddenly it’s gone?
7. what justice does she want exactly?
8. Why did this story even go to air?
9. Is this bad journalism?
10. Are people really that silly that they don’t know their own dog?
11. Why didn’t the Groomer respond and stand up for themselves?

WHO IS AT FAULT?

Well all parties show negligence here as far as I’m concerned.

Firstly, the Groomer handing back the wrong dog to the owners.

Secondly, the owners for not knowing on the spot that that wasn’t their dog.  Yes I know dogs that come in with a full coat of hair and leave with a shaved off look can look different.

HOWEVER, again if one was the size of a spoodle (Cocker Spaniel x Poodle) and the other is a Labradoodle (Labrador cross Poodle) I’m having to go out on a limb and say their size would be different.

Thirdly, Rollo goes in for grooming and comes out with a really bad ear infection that he has to go to the vet immediately!  Why wasn’t that noticed before going to the vet?

Fourthly, Coco goes in for grooming with a bad ear infection and comes out and it’s miraculously gone!  I mean Groomers are great but we’re not that great.

Fifthly, both dogs have different coloured noses.  One has a black nose and one has a pinky/brown nose.   Noses don’t change colour after grooming, nor do they change colour from an ear infection etc.

Sixthly, I believe when the Groomer was asked, what they’ve done to the dog, they answered from a grooming perspective.  As in, we did nothing but groom your dog as requested.

Seventhly, was this the dog’s first groom session.  Yes the Groomer handed the wrong dogs back, HOWEVER, it’s up to the owner to notice it’s not their dog as well.  The Groomer probably only sees these dogs once every 2-3 months, not condoning the error here.

BUT why didn’t the owners do more?  If your dog is behaving so differently you’re calling the Groomer back, why not book in the VET as well??

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

As a Groomer, I’m glad I’m by appointment only so only one owners dog is in this Salon at one time, so no mix ups can happen here.

However, there are many Salons that have multiple dogs and they have procedures in place so this doesn’t happen.   However, as we all know, human error can occur once in a while.

As a Dog Owner, be more aware of your dog’s behaviour, know what your dog looks like, even if you have to take a photo of them before and after dropping them off to the Groomer.

Listen to your gut, if your gut is telling you, this is not my dog, then listen to that and act on it.

IN THE COMMENTS BELOW – BILLY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW – WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS STORY?

Cheers