Maryland: Christina Thornhill claims it's no big deal that Deedra Hager hit a customer's dog with a wiffle ball bat. However, I guarantee that if that were my dog I would go HAM on them

MARYLAND -- A pet salon in Salisbury has come under recent scrutiny after a video went viral showing  a dog being hit with a wiffle ball bat.

The video, which was viewed over 150,000 times before being deleted Friday morning, showed Deedra Hager hitting a dog with a plastic bat as a form of punishment.

 

  

"I've been reflecting it in a more positive way," says Hager. "I mean, people are going to think what they're going to think anyway, and I know I have done nothing wrong, so I have nothing to feel guilty for."

Regardless of whether it falls under the legal definition of animal abuse or not, a smart business owner would not get on TV and behave so snotty. Deedra Hager's smirking face is irritating. 

 

 

The family who owns the business, says that this is a common practice.

"The correction method that we use is a 2-tap on the butt and a redirect. We use a plastic, hollow wiffle ball bat that was rated to be used with children ages two to five," says Christina Thornhill, manager of the Salon. "The employee didn't do anything wrong.. she did her job. She stopped what could have been a fatal fight."

Why don't you ask the dog owner what they thought of Deedra smacking their dog? Would you be happy if this were your dog? I can see her tapping the dog to get its attention and re-direct it to stop a potential fight between dogs, but I don't like how they're trying to minimize it. If this wiffle ball bat is for "ages 2-5", would you be OK with seeing your babysitter smacking your 3-year-old child with it?

The video was shot from the window of a neighboring business, and on Friday, 47 ABC reached out to the woman who shot and posted the video, but her and her place of employment declined to comment.

 

The pet salon says this isn't the first time they've had a run in with that business. According to them, that same business had called animal control on them 2 years ago. but they say animal control found no wrongdoing.

Um, no. I doubt that. Likely they couldn't prove that the dog being beaten suffered any physical injuries, which is typically required for a cruelty charge. Just because your babysitter doesn't leave bruises on your kid doesn't mean your kid isn't being abused by him/her.

Since the video went up, the family says they've received death threats and negative comments, making them worry about the future of their business.

"My fear is that whenever someone wants to Google us, Yelp us, Facebook us (reviews), it just pops up animal abusers with no just cause, says Thornhill. "If you have walked through our doors, and met our animals they're happy."

47ABC reached out to multiple pet trainers around the region trainers in the region to see if this method of training was common practice and all declined to comment on the matter as well.

VIDEO NEWS CLIP:

(WMDT - July 21, 2017)

(May 2017) Indiana: James McDaniel charged with animal cruelty after police say he excessively beat Canadian Goose with wiffle ball bat

INDIANA -- James McDaniel says he did what any parent would do if an aggressive animal was attacking their child. He admits to hitting a Canada goose with a plastic Wiffle ball bat after he says the bird started chasing his 4-year-old son, Ethan.

“A goose actually came from the other side of the field… and proceeded to go full wing span and chase after my son,” said McDaniel.

He says he grabbed the only thing around: his son’s plastic bat.

“So I swing one time, he [the goose] kind of topples over, I grab my son, [go gather our things] and I ran across the street,” said McDaniel.

And that swing, it seems, got feathers flying after a witness called the police.

“It was clearly attacking my son,” said McDaniel, “if anyone else had seen the whole incident, they would have known I was trying to protect my son.”

However, county law enforcement says McDaniel went too far.

EXCERPT FROM THE POLICE REPORT:

"...with James holding an orange bat was after the bird was NOT MOVING AT ALL. Rebecca stated she yelled at him to stop and this is when he finally stopped. I spoke to witness number two, Tiana McCoy. Tiana works with Rebecca and was walking out of the same building Rebecca was when Tiana stated she witnessed James hit the bird three times with an orange bat...

"James kept trying to show me a statute on Google where he has the legal right to hit the birds... he kept saying, 'It's gone from a 5 to a 1.'"

Marion County Animal Services showed up and issued McDaniel a ticket for animal cruelty. The agency was unable to comment on the case because of pending litigation, but according to the incident report, witnesses say they saw McDaniel hit the bird three times [even after the goose stopped coming towards him and was simply standing there]. 

 The report also states the officer did take the goose to a local veterinarian.

McDaniel maintains that he was only protecting his child.

“FOX59 has shown before that these birds are becoming more and more aggressive,” said McDaniel, citing a report regarding aggressive geese and the Department of Natural Resources response to them.

“This is very frustrating because why should I not be allowed to protect my child against wildlife anywhere?”

DNR officials said a person is allowed to protect themselves or others from wildlife, but can only use a reasonable amount of force based on the amount of harm a particular animal could inflict. McDaniel will go before a judge on Monday.

I can see smacking it once with a plastic bat, but repeatedly. And I imagine these were full swings by a grown man. That's excessive, especially since the witness says he continued to beat it even when it was stunned and just standing there looking at him.

VIDEO NEWS CLIP:

(5NewsOnline - May 12, 2017)