The owner of Doggy Doodles Grooming, a dog grooming company in Tulsa, is addressing an incident where one of their employees was arrested on charges of animal cruelty. The employee is accused of beating and suffocating a dog until it died. The owner, Becky Rutherford, asserts that she had no knowledge of the incident until she saw a video of the groomer assaulting the dog. She expressed her distress and stated that she needs to find a way to rectify the situation and start anew.
The groomer involved, Diego Angel, a 41-year-old man, was taken into custody and charged with felony animal cruelty. He was subsequently released from prison after posting bond. The dog, a 4-year-old poodle named “Atlas,” sadly passed away approximately ten minutes after the attack. Rutherford, who was deeply affected by the video of the assault, tearfully shared that she was unaware of what had occurred until she viewed it. She tried her best to save the dog but was unable to do so.
The video footage reveals that Angel spent around ten minutes berating Atlas due to the dog becoming agitated during the grooming process. Some of the punches occurred while the owner was momentarily out of sight or just before the owner’s return, with the other groomers in the room not intervening. Despite facing backlash both online and in person, Doggy Doodles Grooming remains open for business. Rutherford explained that she had initially defended the groomer as she believed he was telling the truth but regrets her judgment after watching the video. She asserts that her top priority now is ensuring that such an incident does not happen again. Authorities responsible for animal welfare possess a complete recording of the assault.