Korean Animal Hospital Sets The Internet On Fire After A Disturbing CCTV Footage Reveals Staff Spraying A Post-Op Dog With Febreze
Content Warning
On December 3, a Korean Instagram account @aloha_pet shared a disturbing story about an eight-month-old puppy Samsoon — and how she was “killed” by the staff of a veterinary hospital, where she had been admitted for a dental surgery.
In the initial post, Samsoon’s owner claimed “Samsoon’s dead body smelled so strongly of artificial fragrance” when she arrived at the hospital after receiving a phone call about Samsoon’s passing.
Feeling suspicious, the owner requested to see the CCTV footage capturing Samsoon’s post-op care.
I had faith in this animal hospital. So I didn’t even think to ask for the CCTV footage at first. The head doctor and the staff seemed really nice too… But that night, when I brought my baby home to say my final goodbye, I realized there is so many weird things about Samsoon. She went in for a surgery, but she came back groomed. And she smelled so strongly of some sort of fragrance… that it gave me a headache.
— Instagram @aloha_pet
And this video, also shared on the owner’s Instagram feed, ended up revealing the vet staff’s heartless treatment of Samsoon — for an entire hour after she had come out of surgery. Here’s what the footage captured:
While Samsoon remains unconscious from the anesthesia, the head doctor begins rubbing waterless shampoo all over Samsoon’s body. The video points out, “while it is common for vet staff to blow dry with heat to help raise the body temperature after a surgery, the shampooing is thought to be irrelevant and unnecessary.”
Shortly after, another staff returns from the bathroom with a Febreze air freshener. They start spraying the bottle inside Samsoon’s mouth.
The video also captures this group of staff “laughing and having fun” while “torturing Samsoon“.
Other staff add to the situation by rubbing Samsoon’s body with the essential oil from a diffuser placed on one of the cabinet shelves, as well as smothering her in human perfume and body mist sprays.
One staff, assumed to be the hospital’s in-house groomer, starts “practicing” tying different hairstyles on Samsoon’s face…
… all the while she remains fragile from the surgery. At one point, Samsoon does wake up from anesthesia — and is seemingly groggy. Yet the dog endures a prolonged 14 minutes “getting groomed“, before finally being scurried off to an oxygen unit.
Samsoon is said to have lost her life three hours after the footage stops recording the gruesome abuse.
My last memory of Samsoon is with her hair pulled up so tight that her eyes couldn’t close… She reeked of artificial fragrance…
— Instagram @aloha_pet
Prior to handing over the CCTV footage to Samsoon’s owner, the hospital reportedly tried to blame the dog’s pre-existing bronchitis condition.
When I went to the hospital at night when Samsoon died, the doctor insisted she passed away due to going under anesthesia while having bronchitis. But the doctor knew Samsoon had bronchitis. He proceeded with the surgery anyway… And then, he allowed his staff to spray Febreze in Samsoon’s mouth…
— Instagram @aloha_pet
When the owner exposed the CCTV on social media though, “for the purpose of making more people aware about the animal hospital“, the hospital admitted fault and drove the internet furious.
The head doctor at the hospital, later verified to be Baro Animal Hospital in Gwangju City, posted a handwritten apology letter — explaining their behavior as “Trying to get rid of the odor from the infected area“.
First, we would like to sincerely apologize to Samsoon’s owner and all other owners who visited our hospital. We apologize to all pet owners as well… While we dried Samsoon’s wet hair from the surgery to raise her body temperature, we failed to check Samsoon’s condition with more care. We apologize for not doing what we were supposed to be doing. Post-op, we should have checked Samsoon’s condition. But we behaved without professionalism and had no understanding of what we should not be doing. We are at a loss of words and have nothing to share but our sincerest apologies for Samsoon’s owner. Again, we’re truly sorry.
— Baro Animal Hospital
This explanation has sparked yet another wave of rage from netizens who are now set on “shutting down the hospital“.
- “Febreze is strong enough to kill mosquitos. To see veterinary staff spray it on a dog, I really don’t know if I could trust anyone ever again.”
- “What is wrong with them though…? Like what is the reason? It disgusts me when humans pick on animals because animals can’t speak. It’s pure evil.”
- “Are they all high on drugs or something? How could 6 people be this out of their minds all at once? Why isn’t anyone stopping each other? No one is sane?”
- “What are they doing to an animal that is post-op? To a dog that is known to be sensitive to smell and touch? I would lose my sh*t if that was my dog. I hope they get punished. Take their licenses away! Why has the world come to this?”
- “It’s as if they’re all under some sort of a spell or something… This can’t be real.”
- “I feel terrible for the dog owner. It must be heartbreaking to see this… I would not be in my right mind if that happened to my dog. F*ck…”
Since then, a Blue House petition has emerged on behalf of Samsoon’s owner. While it remains under review — with over 60K+ signatures flooding in after the heartbreaking story of Samsoon got picked up by Korean press — netizens continue to demand more punitive action against the head doctor and staff, for “legitimate animal abuse“.
Watch the full clip here: