Family Dog Mauled and Killed inside PetSmart

One pet owner in Midland is devastated after her poodle was mauled and killed by another dog inside PetSmart.

The owner, Liliana Vergara, says she's not getting the answers she wants from the store manager.

Vergara says that her dog Luna was 13-years-old and getting up in age on the fateful day they stepped into the Midland PetSmart.

Vergara knew she'd soon be saying goodbye to her beloved French poodle, but she never expected to see Luna's life end the way it did.

On May 12th Vergara brought her dog Luna to the PetSmart to be groomed. Things took a turn for the worse as she was passing another dog, a mastiff, which she says attacked and eventually killed her poodle.

"I couldn’t say goodbye to my doggy it just happened it wasn’t the right way, my feeling is PetSmart is not doing anything about it, it just happened, and we cannot do anything and I think they should do something to fix it,” said Vergara.

Vergara and her husband returned to PetSmart for answers about what size dogs are allowed in the store and to obtain the video of their family pet being mauled.

They were told by the store manager that the owner of the mastiff agreed to pay for Luna's cremation and to let PetSmart handle the situation. Weeks later they have heard nothing more.

"I’ve been to the police station, animal control, PetSmart...and it looks like it happened and no one can do anything," said Vergara.

Despite the situation, Vergara says she’s glad her two small children weren’t with her to witness the horrifying attack and hopes no other family has to experience the loss of a pet in such a gruesome way.

"I don’t know, [large dogs] need to be muzzled or something in public places, from PetSmart I just want them to change policies for maybe large dogs," said Vergara.

We reached out to the PetSmart location in Midland who said they couldn’t comment.

Corporate did release a statement saying, “We are truly saddened by the loss of Luna as a result of this tragic accident, and we remain in continual contact with the pet parent. As a practice, we do not provide internal documents or video to third parties, and for privacy reasons, it is our policy not to disclose the names or contact information of other customers. We welcome all dogs, regardless of their size, into our stores provided they are well behaved and leashed. Our thoughts are with the pet parent during this difficult time.”

As for the Vergara family, they bought a new pet to help their children deal with the loss.

The store did send flowers to the family but they say they'll never return to PetSmart again.

PetSmart does in fact have an in-store pet policy, displayed on the company's website.

Animals allowed include domestic dogs and cats, birds, small animals and reptiles, ferrets, rabbits, possums, and pot-bellied pigs.

Those animals must be on a leash or safely confined and vaccinated.

Several types of animals fall under the small animals and reptiles category, such as hamsters, guinea pigs, and small lizards.

Pets that are deemed "non-traditional" are not allowed inside PetSmart stores.