There’s no one you can trust these days, hey?

Just ask Ronel Vorster from Melkbosstrand.

Thinking her pooch would be safe in the hands of professionals, Vorster left Taro and his sister Tamara at the @Frits Dog Hotel for a three-night stay. You know the one – the five-star dog hotel, opened in December 2015 and situated in De Waterkant.

However, on her return from her trip with her husband to Johannesburg, Vorster found Taro the Pekingese had been subjected to an unscheduled haircut.

Instead of his “shiny mane and fluffy tail”, Taro had been left with a buzz cut and “severe trauma,” reports IOL.

Paying R2 166, Vorster thought her pooches were safe, seeing as the hotel has a “live online camera feed for owners to check on their pets”. Angry, Vorster says it will take “TWO years for her award-winning dog’s coat to grow back, and his days as a top show dog are numbered”:

“My husband Arno and I had a trip to Johannesburg and we booked Taro and Tamara in at the dog hotel on 14 September, it was their third visit,” Ronel explains.

“Taro is also our show dog and two weeks prior to the booking, he won a competition.”

She says they checked in online and noticed Taro was not in his room.

“We phoned and spoke to the receptionist and we were told that there was big drama,” says Ronel.

She was furious when she heard Taro was shaved after being mistaken for a Yorkshire terrier.

A Pekingese mistaken for a Yorkshire terrier? In what dog-eat-dog world?

That’s Taro up top on the left before Ronel headed to Jozi, and Taro below when she returned:

“We were informed the washer took Taro, instead of a Yorkie, to the washing area. If they’re so well trained, the washer should have noticed it’s two completely different breeds. Without checking, she shaved Taro’s hair.”

Ronel says it’s not just the poor pooch’s aesthetics that have suffered, because her once confident and playful doggy is now depressed:

“After the incident we took Taro to the vet and had to get Calmeze and medication for his anxiety. He has nightmares, he doesn’t eat, is not playful and hides away. He’s not the same dog I left there, he is depressed,” she says.

“Our dog behaviourist can’t even see him now because he is too traumatised. Taro needs to wear a jersey to keep him warm. It could take two years for his coat to grow back.”

“Pekingese is not a breed known to be cut, as the coat is their asset. The top coat will never grow back to its original state. My dog’s future and competitiveness has been ruined for life.”

“This is not classified as a mistake; it is plain stupidity and shows they’re incompetent,” an angry Ronel adds.

The owner of @Frists Yanic Klue jumped to her business’s defence, saying it was not intentionally done:

“We made a mistake. Once we realised that, we gave him a professional cut for a Pekingese and offered the owners flowers and a gift voucher as an apology but the owners refused it,” Klue said.

Ronel said that’s a “blatant lie”.

Oh dear.

[source:iol]