A 22-year-old suspect from North Carolina — a former employee at Hollywood Pets in Danville — is facing an animal cruelty charge after videos surfaced of an incident from earlier this year.
Cassidy Gill of Roxboro, North Carolina, was arrested Friday, the Danville Police Department reported.
On Thursday, authorities “were made aware” of the complaint at the Hairston Street business that provides pet grooming and kennel services.
Gill
“This complaint included videos of the employee striking a dog in January and February of 2024, which was shared by the complainant to social media and other sources,” a news release from the police department stated. “Animal Control investigated the incident with the assistance of detectives with the Criminal Investigations Unit.”
That investigation resulted in the arrest. There are no other criminal charges expected, police wrote in the release.
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As the videos circulated, Derek Holley, of Hollywood Pets, spoke out about the incident on the Facebook page for the business.
Holley said he received the videos April 26 from the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, commonly called PETA.
The next time the employee came to work — April 29 — Holley said he spoke with the worker who was “terminated immediately.”
“Apparently the videos had been recorded some time ago but were not presented to me when the incidents occurred,” he wrote in the Thursday post. “Only after our previous groomer (who captured the videos) was terminated on April 15th did she decide it was in her best interest to release them to PETA.”
Holley explained he plans to install cameras to monitor grooming activities in the future.
“We deeply regret any of this occurred and I assure you these were isolated incidents,” he wrote in the post. “We have served Danville and the surrounding areas for 16 years and our reputation is excellent.”
Charles Wilborn (434) 791-7976
cwilborn@registerbee.com
@CWilbornGDR on Twitter