Park Slope Pomeranian Has Deadly Spa Day at 'Paws in Paradise'

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A local Pomeranian named Sebastian "died in excruciating, severe pain" Tuesday after suffering a mysterious injury at 5th Avenue doggie spa Paws in Paradise, his owner, Denise Cianciotti, told NBC New York in a heart-wrenching video interview.

Cianciotti wrote on Facebook that she brought her 1-year-old, 5-pound Pomeranian into the spa — located at 410 5th Ave., near 7th Street — around 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Ten minutes later, she said, she received a call from Paws in Paradise informing her that something was wrong with the dog. So she ran back to the store, she said, to find Sebastian "screaming and writhing in agony."

Just an hour after that, Cianciotti said, the dog was dead.

"Its my baby... I broke down," she told NBC.

X-rays of Sebastian's tiny body, posted by Park Slope Stoop, appear to show his neck was broken at the spa.

According to Cianciotti, the vet at the BluePearl clinic on 4th Avenue asked if the dog had recently been dropped, hit or kicked. But all the 5th Avenue groomer would say about Sebastian's time at the spa, Cianciotti said, was that the dog had suddenly collapsed.

“It was a very unfortunate incident,” the owner of Paws in Paradise, Judy Wong, told Park Slope Stoop. “I feel really bad."

Cianciotti is now campaigning to have the local doggie spa shut down.

Read the full story at Park Slope Stoop and watch the video interview at NBC.

We're curious to know: Have any other readers had bad experiences at Paws in Paradise? Reach out: simone.wilson@patch.com.