Nicola Peltz Beckham has filed a lawsuit against a mobile dog grooming company and its owner and groomer following the untimely death of her dog, Nala.
According to court documents obtained by ET, the 29-year-old model and wife of David and Victoria Beckham 's son, Brooklyn Beckham , is suing HoundSpa, its owner and its groomer, after claiming "intentional and malicious abuse of dogs, which caused the death of Nicola's healthy dog, Nala."
Nicola, who filed the lawsuit Tuesday in New York's Westchester County Court, claims reckless and malicious conduct was ignored by the company's owner, "who knew of a history of complaints alleging that [the groomer] had repeatedly mistreated and abused animals and yet continued to employ him and put animals ... in harm's way."
The model goes on to claim that the defendants' "severe and outrageous conduct has caused damages and emotional distress to Nicola, who witnessed her beloved dog suffer and die."
Nicola, who considers herself an avid dog lover and animal activist who runs a dog rescue organization, Yogi's House, claims Nala went into a HoundSpa mobile grooming van on June 15 "for a routine grooming as a happy and healthy dog only to emerge a short time later in obvious serious physical distress with her lungs full of water, chest pulsating and hyperventilating."
Nicola goes on to claim Nala was rushed to the hospital but the pooch tragically "died within [2] hours of the horrors that had happened to her in the grooming van." When they got to the vet, Nicola claims "the vet observed that Nala's tongue was blue, she had fluid in her lungs, and she suffered neurological damage."
In her court documents, Nicola claims the owners should have never allowed the groomer "to continue to groom pets after receiving multiple customer complaints concerning his mistreatment and abuse of animals."
"Over the past several years, while at her New York residence, Nicola and her family had used HoundSpa's mobile grooming services at varying times to groom their dogs. After a horrendous negative experience in the summer of 2022 with [the groomer], complaints were made to [the owner] about [the groomer's] treatment of Nicola’s brother's and his girlfriend's dog," Nicola stated in court documents.
She went on to state that the owner "receivedand knew of many other complaints alleging [the groomer's] abuse and mistreatment of dogs," and Nicola "reasonably believed that upon receiving such complaints, [the owner] would not send [the same groomer] to Nicola or her family and would remove [the groomer} as a HoundSpa groomer."
But that's not what happened when the same groomer showed up on June 15, Nicola claims.
"Unbeknownst to Nicola, HoundSpa sent [the same groomer} as its groomer in a mobile grooming van to groom Nicola’s five dogs outside of her Westchester County home," the court documents state.
Nicola is suing for unspecified damages. ET has reached out to HoundSpa for comment.
Nicola tells ET, "I am truly still in so much shock and pain over my baby Nala suddenly passing last month following what should have been a routine grooming session. I posted the experience on my Instagram to bring awareness, and was heartbroken to hear the horrifying stories from so many others who have experienced the same tragedy. I can't bear it. I'm outraged to hear how common stories like Nala’s are."
She continued, "We need to do better and change the laws to better protect pets and the loving owners who care for them. Our pets are our chosen family. I've dedicated most of my life to saving dogs and I can't in good conscience let this horrifying act happen to more families. I will work for changes and laws to help make sure no one else ever has to experience this heartbreak."
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