Domino’s Killed Her Puppy in 30 Minutes or Less
March 31, 2008 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
(FranchisePick.com) (Share This) Should Domino’s have a kill one puppy, get one free offer? Lisa McConnell of Goshen, IN thinks so. After a Domino’s pizza delivery driver flattened her 5 month old Jack Russell terrier Odie, Lisa has started a campaign to pressure the Domino’s franchise owner to buy her a new puppy. She’s writing the newspaper and posting online in a bid for attention and sympathy.
I’ll give Lisa the attention, but she’ll have to look elsewhere for sympathy. In fact, I think her odious account of Odie’s demise is a great example of the lack of personal accountability and self-entitlement so prevalent in franchising and society today.
(Share your opinion below)
Odie’s Final Run
Here’s an abbreviated account of Lisa McConnell’s post on the [name for female dog]-site Complaints Board.
On March 14 I ordered pizza from Domino’s in Goshen. Little did I realize that such an everyday occurrence could end in such tragedy.
My son had some friends over so I let him order Domino’s. I gave my son my credit card number to pay for the pizza over the phone, thinking ahead so I didn’t have to deal with our dogs barking or getting loose when the delivery man came. I also sent my son to stand in the driveway as another precautionary measure… I generally put them in my laundry room if I know I am going to go to have to open my door…
“The delivery man just ran over Odie.”
With the delivery man still standing in the open kitchen doorway, I asked my son where Odie, our puppy was. He said, “He just slipped out. I’ll go get him.” Then he said to the delivery man, “I need to go get our puppy, ” as the driver walked away. I looked out the dining room window, and saw my son chasing our puppy. As I went to get my shoes, it was only a matter of minutes that my son was screaming, “The delivery man just ran over Odie.”
“…I went into traumatic shock.”
….I ran out to the street and picked up Odie as he died in my arms. The driver never even turned around to see what he had hit. It could have been a child. At that point I went into traumatic shock and cradled my bloodied dead puppy in my arms on the kitchen floor.
“..Me and my dead puppy… stayed there for three days”
…My parents came from nearly an hour away to come get me and take me and my dead puppy back to their home because I was so distraught and they were worried about me. I stayed there for three days….
“There is no real price to be placed on my grief or the loss of my puppy,” HOWEVER…
…the franchise owner of this Goshen Domino’s called me, apologized, and asked if there was anything they could do… I requested if they wanted to do something they could pay for the purchase of a new puppy. She wasn’t very remorseful at this point and was not receptive to this suggestion…
I’m not asking for much – just the minimum that I feel is owed to me. There is no real price to be placed on my grief or the loss of my puppy, who was like a child to me…
the “failure of the franchise to make amends is appalling.”
While it could be argued that yes, this was an accident, the driver was aware of the situation and he had to have known that it was our loose puppy that he hit. His failure to own up to his actions, and the further failure of the franchise to make amends is appalling. What are they going to tell a parent should this situation occur with a child? That it was just an accident? That they should have watched their child more closely?
“Domino’s corporation… had the audacity to tell me that it was my fault”
I finally called the Domino’s corporation today and they had the audacity to tell me that it was my fault -that I should have been watching my dog more closely… I replied, “I ordered with my credit card and sent my son out to wait so that I could watch my dogs. How much more responsible could I be?”
“Other than that, how was your pizza, Mrs. McConnell?”
You have probably seen the current Domino’s ads about what people are doing with the 30 minutes that it takes for Domino’s to come to deliver pizza. What are you doing with your 30 minutes? You should be locking up your pets, children and staying off the streets. —-Lisa McConnell
Should Domino’s buy Lisa McConnell a new 5-week old Jack Russell Terrier? Lucky Jack [pictured right], available from Next Day Pets, is value priced at only $900, plus $200 for plane fare. And he already answers to the name Lucky.
Or should Lisa McConnell be required to undergo psychiatric evaluation to determine her fitness as a parent, pet owner and pizza consumer? Should the pizza shop operators of Goshen IN put Lisa on the Pick-up orders only blacklist?
What do you think? Whether you agree with me or are wrong, I value your opinion. Share it with a comment or TAKE OUR POLL.
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Franchises for Puppy Haters:
Lock Up The Dogs… It’s Domino’s!
Photo credits: IdeaFarm (Top), Next Day Pets (Lucky)
Who let the dawgs out? The mongrel shouldn’t have been out of the house. Bad things happen.
If the dog was in the driveway, replace it. If it was in the road, don’t replace it.
If the driver was in earshot when told the dog had escaped and was told they were trying to capture it, he should have waited before moving his vehicle, as a simple and effective show of both customer service and plain common sense.
The franchise should cover the costs associated with proper disposal of the remains and providing a new pet to the family of similar quality.
That said, this chick needs to get some perspective and spend a little less time reading Victorian romances before writing letters trying to get results from business via “the internets”.
The 5mo old puppy was precisely as bonded to her as a child, and she has indicated she has a child with which to compare the experience. Perspective seems lacking based on this alone, but particularly that she doesn’t have the ability to cope with this and be a mother to her child, as she reverted to childhood herself and had to go be with mommy and daddy.
Also, trying to save yourself the time of putting rambunctious puppy away in the laundry room and ending in death of said puppy definitely points up the need to resist convenience when safety is a concern.
What’s appalling is blaming someone for your stupidity. YES the driver should have stopped, but it was a puppy that they may not have know they hit. The bottom line is this person should have locked the dog away. It’s what I do when I know someone’s coming to my house.
Another example of a person blaming someone else for their own mistakes. Take responsibility for your actions. You shouldn’t have let the puppy run out in to the street.
Ask Lisa if she wants HOT Coffee with the puppy replacement!
you guys are all heartless.
if someone ran over my puppy i’d sue the living crap out of every single person working with them.
it wasn’t her fault.
Sean Kelly….ever hear the phrase what comes around goes around? Well anyone who made a heartless comment in favor of Dominos needs to get a heart. No one wants to take responsibility anymore for anything. I guess that dozen roses that they sent should have made it all better? What the writer of this story forgot to write was that I sent my son out to wait for the driver …..how much more responsible could I be. I didn’t need to lock the puppy up…..the driver wanted my signature and while I was going through my purse to get his tip my puppy slipped out the door. He watched my son trying to get the puppy who thought it was a game. The driver drove down to the end of the cul-de-sac and drove back past our house at a high speed when he hit the puppy. Now anyone else want to make a stupid comment? How about you Sean Kelly? Got any kids…..are you going to be as heartless about them if something like this ever happens? You are an ass!
Lisa:
We agree on one thing: “No one wants to take responsibility anymore for anything.”
Take a few moments to consider how you might take some responsibility for your actions:
1) Pet owners are legally responsible for the actions of their pets. You failed to prevent your puppy from running out into a public street. It doesn’t matter how fast the driver was going, your dog didn’t belong in the street. It’s clearly your fault. (Not to mention that the driver was only there because YOU called them)
2) You’re lucky that your dog didn’t cause a more serious accident, as you would be legally liable. Be thankful that the Domino’s driver didn’t press charges against you or decide to sue you.
3) Your puppy ran out the door while you were rummaging through your purse to give the driver his (generous, I’m sure) tip. You could have asked the driver to wait until your puppy was back in the house, but you didn’t. After he got his tip, he had no reason to wait. Again: Your fault.
4) How long does it take to retrieve a puppy? The driver waited at the door for you to find a tip, received the tip, got back in the car, drove down the street, turned in the cul de sac, drove back past your house… and your puppy was still running wild? Again: your fault.
5) You write: “I didn’t need to lock the puppy up….” Obviously, you did.
6) “Got any kids…?” I’ve raised 5 kids. And I’d never put them at risk by sending them to chase a puppy in or near traffic. You should be thankful the kid you sent out by the street wasn’t hurt. And I don’t have a dog because, like you, I don’t want to accept responsibility for caring for it.
7) The fact that you left a comment about your puppy on a post about a husband and father who was recently killed shows that you are even more self-absorbed than I initially suspected. And that’s saying something.
8 ) “…anyone who made a heartless comment in favor of Dominos needs to get a heart.” It’s funny that you think YOU are deserving compassion. Just because I think the blame is yours doesn’t mean I’m heartless. My heart aches for the little puppy. And the child you sent into traffic.
9) “You are an ass!” OK, I’ll concede that one to you.
Lisa:
Corect me if Im wrong, but seems to me that you are so intent on using your dead puppy to extort money from this Dominos that you are willing to lie about it. Here is what you wrote on another site (http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/domino039s-pizza-linway-plaza-goshen-c72690.html):
“The franchise owner also told the BBB that she consoled me on the phone for about 40 minutes when we only talked briefly because I had to catch a plane and told her I would call her back when she asked if there was anything they could do. I couldn’t talk and didn’t want to cry on the plane all the way to DC., so I again told her I would call her back. I was gone a few days and came home to some roses from them with a card and that was supposed to be the end of it with them”
But in the story up above you write:
“…My parents came from nearly an hour away to come get me and take me and my dead puppy back to their home because I was so distraught and they were worried about me. I stayed there for three days….”
Which is it?
Did you go catch a plane and take a trip for a few days, or did you stay with your parents an hour away, overcome with grief?
Are you really willing to say anything to try to damage this local business owner for your own carelessness?
Do you know what slander is?
Have you noticed that almost everyone holds you responsible? Is everybody else wrong?