Four Yorkshire terriers died from heat exposure this past August while in the care of a Memphis pet groomer their owner had trusted for nearly four years. When two of the dogs died and a third began struggling to breathe, the groomer sent videos claiming they had gotten into hair dye, instead of rushing them to a veterinarian. By the time she reached his home, four of her five Yorkies had already died. A necropsy later confirmed the real cause of death: heat, not poison.

Keaton Stuckey now faces four felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, and Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy's office should pursue those charges to the fullest extent the law allows. But holding one groomer accountable isn't enough to stop this from happening again. Tennessee currently has no state licensing or oversight system for pet groomers. Anyone can open a grooming business and take in someone's pet with no required training in animal safety, no facility inspections, and no consequences until after an animal has already died.

That has to change. The Tennessee General Assembly can fix this by creating a state licensing board for pet groomers, one that sets real safety standards for temperature control, supervision, and emergency veterinary response, and that has the power to revoke a license when an animal is harmed.

Five small dogs shared one kennel that day. Four never made it home. Sign the petition to demand pet groomer licensing standards in Tennessee so no other family loses a pet to preventable neglect.