Pet Dog's Tongue Accidentally Cut Off By Groomer

A dog owner expressed outrage after his pet’s tongue was accidentally cut off during a grooming session. The incident took place at a grooming center in Singapore in June.

Lee Taiseng, the dog’s owner, said his pet, a toy poodle named Mario, was picked up by the grooming service June 7 morning. However, a few hours later he received a call saying that his dog was injured during the grooming session.

“We received a call from Nichelle, owner of Pawschukang, who calmly informed us that Mario’s tongue was 'slit' during grooming, and he was bleeding non-stop despite applying ice on the open wound. Due to her calm tone, we assumed it was a small injury that was inflicted during the grooming and we agreed to meet them at the nearest vet immediately after the call,” the owner said in a Facebook post Tuesday.

“When we reached the clinic, we were surprised by Nichelle’s verbiage, blaming Mario for being an active dog during grooming and how she has never met such an active dog in her grooming career. This was such an uncharacteristic description of Mario. But then again, we were supposedly paying a premium price for a certified and professional groomer who should be well trained and able to manage uncooperative dogs during grooming without snipping any extremities off!” the owner added.

The owner was shocked to see that a small tip of his dog’s tongue was cut off. He alleged the groomers did not inform him immediately after the incident took place.

“According to the vet, Mario’s tongue could have been salvaged if they had acted responsibly enough to rush Mario to the vet as soon as possible. Due to the extended duration of inaction (estimated to be for a few hours), the dangling portion of the tongue had to be amputated, leaving Mario to have a shorter tongue now. It was a painful recovery experience for Mario who had to be syringe and spoon-fed until he learnt how to lick up his food and water with a shortened tongue,” he continued.

The owner also said that though the grooming service reimbursed the veterinary fees, they did not fire the groomer who slit the dog’s tongue. However, these claims were refuted by Nichelle.

“I would like to express my sincerest apologies to Mr. Lee on what had happened to Mario during his grooming session with one of my ex-staff/employee. The previous staff/employee that we hired, and whom committed the mistake is a licensed and experienced groomer with more than 5 years experience in the grooming industry. The groomer is no longer employed with us,” Nichelle said, adding that the dog was rushed to the vet within 30 minutes of the incident.