Dog owner Henny You claimed that her groomer had shaved off both the inner and outer coat of her Pomeranian dog Dede, despite her instructions not to do so.

Owner disagreed with groomer's account of events

The grooming company involved, The Precious Pets, issued a statement on the matter on their Facebook page on Jan. 10.

The Precious Pets refuted You's account of events and described the groomer's account of the events in some detail.

The groomer, whose surname is Ong, is identified as Z in the post.

However, You took issue with the groomer's account of events, responding in a comment on the company's Facebook post that refuted almost all of its claims.

The Precious Pets and Henny You disagreed on a few points, as follows:

1. Whether You's husband had instructed the groomer to use their personal shaver for Dede.

The Precious Pets said that You's husband asked for Ong to use the couple's personal tools, as they did not want their dog to be groomed with tools that had been used on other pets.

According to their account of what happened, You’s husband supposedly insisted that Ong should use their personal shaver.

This is even though You allegedly had said that their previous groomer did not use their personal shaver, and despite Ong's warnings that using the personal shaver would result in Dede becoming "botak" (or, bald), due to it being set with a blade length that would shave off the most fur.

You denied that they had instructed the groomer to use their personal shaver, and further questioned how the groomer was able to shave off a patch of fur — as described in the statement — if the shaver was weak and difficult to use.

You also claimed that the batteries of the shaver were "not even charged".

2. Whether the groomer had confirmed with them before shaving off Dede's fur

The Precious Pets said that Ong had first asked You’s husband about how short they wanted Dede’s fur to be trimmed.

He replied “short”, to which Ong asked whether he wanted it to be “botak” (or bald).

You's husband purportedly replied "not so short".

The company claimed that Ong had sought multiple confirmations from You's husband that using Dede’s personal shaver would result in Dede becoming "botak", even to the extent of showing them a patch of "botak" fur and confirming whether the example was what they wanted, before proceeding with the groomer's own shaver.

However, You's rejected these claims, highlighting that her husband had emphasised that Dede's fur was to be groomed short but "not botak".

You said that her husband had not insisted on getting Dede's fur shaved off.

You also said that her husband had gone into the room to check on Dede after hearing the dog yelp twice, and was shocked at the amount of fur that had been shaven off.

3. What You had told Ong about her husband, in response to Dede's coat being shaved off

The Precious Pets said that You conveyed to Ong that there may have been “miscommunication” and that her husband "don't know anything one".

You denied saying that about her husband to Ong.

She added that as she was a wheelchair user, her husband was very closely involved in Dede’s care, including bathing Dede and taking Dede for walks.

Reactions to the statement

The statement by The Precious Pets attracted mixed responses.

A number of commenters came out in support of the company, sharing their own positive experiences of having their pets groomed.

Others highlighted the fact that professional groomers ought to have known that a Pomeranian's coat should not be entirely shaved off, and highlighting how the pictures of Dede appeared to show that the shave was uneven or choppy.

However, there were also comments that defended the company for going ahead with the job, saying that if the customer had insisted, the groomer might not be able to refuse their request.

Grooming session was not recorded

You, responding to replies to her comment, said that she would record future grooming sessions via CCTV cameras.

However, it appears that neither You nor the grooming company have further evidence to prove their respective claims.

The Precious Pets' full statement can be seen in this Facebook post here.

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Top image via Henny You and The Precious Pets on Facebook