HIALEAH, Florida. – The owner of a dog grooming business says he has received death threats since one of his employees was filmed kicking a small dog.
This employee has since been dismissed.
“I have no idea why he did what he did,” Yosuan Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is the owner of Deluxe Mobile Grooming, a Hialeah-based business that sparked a heated online backlash after the video went viral.
“There is no excuse, no explanation for what he did,” Rodriguez said.
He says he fired the employee after receiving Google Alert reports about the incident, only then did he learn that everything had been recorded on video.
“I sent him the screenshots and asked, ‘Is that what I think? You hit the dog?’ He said yes, that was it,” Rodriguez said.
Speaking to Local 10 News, Rodriguez said he treats his own dogs like family and appreciates the animals of all his clients.
He said sales had dropped and death threats seemed nonstop.
“They said a lot of things,” Rodriguez said. “They’re going to kill me and my whole family, cut off my mother’s head and say all kinds of bad and negative things.”
The dog Coco in the video was declared healthy by the vet, but her owners say they noticed some behavioral changes.
Rodriguez said he is working with animal control and police to file charges against the former employee.
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