Your Dog's Best Friends owner apologizes, says he 'misjudged' groomer convicted of animal abuse
Paul Haire says he watched video of dog's death and believed it was a heart attack; asks community for forgiveness
The owner of Your Dog’s Best Friends issued a public apology Saturday, three days after a former groomer at his facility was convicted of felony animal abuse in the death of a dog.
Paul Haire, in a statement posted to the business’s Facebook page, said he “misjudged Kevin’s character” and asked the community for forgiveness for his decision to retain Kevin Sanders after a 3-year-old golden retriever named Abigail died on a grooming table in July 2024.
“It is clear by hindsight that I misjudged Kevin’s character,” Haire wrote. “It’s really hard to wrap my brain around how someone who loves dogs as much as Kevin appeared to can have a switch in his brain that can flip and allow him to hurt one.”
Sanders pleaded guilty Monday to a felony cruelty charge related to Abigail’s death and was found guilty Wednesday on four misdemeanor animal abuse charges involving other dogs at the facility at 2000 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA 22301. He faces up to five years in prison on the felony charge. Sentencing is scheduled for Thursday.
Haire says he watched the video
In the statement, Haire said he viewed the video of Abigail’s death and interpreted what he saw as a heart attack — not strangulation.
“In my teens and early 20’s I was trained and served as an emergency room orderly in my hometown hospital and as an Advanced First Aid technician with the Washington, DC Red Cross,” Haire wrote. “When I viewed the video I believed that the slow quiet collapse into the grooming restraints was consistent with the heart attack diagnosed by the vet.”
Haire said he asked the veterinarian who examined Abigail whether there was any sign of trauma or asphyxiation. “She expressed absolute confidence that because of Abigail’s age and breed the cause was a heart attack caused by a congenital defect called Dilated Cardio Myopathy (DCM),” he wrote.
Haire said his training led him to believe “that asphyxiation causes involuntary convulsions and results in a swollen tongue. Neither occurred, reinforcing my perception that it was heart failure.”
“If I was wrong in my interpretation of what I saw, it was not out of negligence, lack of compassion or greed,” he wrote.
The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria’s supervising veterinarian reached a different conclusion after reviewing the same video. The veterinarian “came to the conclusion that the golden retriever was substantially mistreated by the defendant, and that this mistreatment ultimately led to the animal’s death,” according to a statement of facts filed by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office in July 2025.
A search warrant affidavit filed by Animal Control Officer Anthony Rankin in January 2025 stated that he observed in the video that Abigail “was strangled by the leash designed to hold the animal in place on a grooming table.”
Sanders showed remorse, then didn’t
Haire’s account of Sanders’ reaction to Abigail’s death differs from what prosecutors told the court.
In his Saturday statement, Haire wrote that Sanders “had a meltdown that included suicidal ideation” after Abigail’s death. “He appeared to be genuinely and abjectly remorseful. He convinced me that he had tried to rush to finish drying Abigail’s face and, in frustration, broke our rules against using force. I did not attribute his actions to malice toward the dog.”
However, according to the Commonwealth’s statement of facts filed in court, Sanders “has made statements to law enforcement about these incidents. The Defendant is not remorseful for these events, and feels that he was justified in his actions, specifically when he was grooming Abigail on July 12, 2024.”
Decision to retrain rather than fire
Haire said he chose to retrain Sanders rather than terminate him because he believed Abigail’s death was “an unintentional consequence, not deliberate malice.”
“If I had understood the darker side that Kevin hid, I would have fired him on the spot,” Haire wrote. “Instead, I believed that re-training and counselling could ensure he would never use force again.”
Haire noted that Your Dog’s Best Friends is “a place of second chances,” with most staff “referred to us by probation officers, sheriffs, judges, prosecutors and transitional support NGOs that believe the individual has demonstrated that they’ve earned a second chance.”
“With hindsight, that is the decision I should have made,” Haire wrote of firing Sanders. “I will carry that regret for the rest of my life.”
Other incidents
In his July 2025 statement issued the day after Sanders’ arrest, Haire said that day was “the first and only time we have been made aware of any additional alleged incidents” beyond Abigail’s death.
In his new statement Saturday, Haire wrote: “We are grateful that the thorough investigative work of the APD and AWLA professionals exposed the incidents of abuse of which we were unaware.”
The four misdemeanor charges stemmed from incidents on Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Dec. 18 and Dec. 31, 2024 — all after Abigail’s death in July 2024, and all while Sanders remained employed at the facility, according to the Commonwealth’s statement of facts.
A search warrant seeking video evidence of animal cruelty at the facility was served on Jan. 24, 2025, according to court records. The anonymous complaint that prompted the investigation, delivered Dec. 13, 2024, alleged that “management was allowing the abuse to continue,” according to the search warrant affidavit.
Asking for forgiveness
Haire closed his statement by asking the community to continue supporting his staff.
“Please do not be angry with or distrustful of the fine, caring, dog-loving staff that work at Your Dog’s Best Friends,” he wrote. “I’ve watched them put their bodies on the line to protect a dog. It was my lapse of judgment and my mistaken reliance on trust that contributed to these tragedies.”
“For myself, I ask forgiveness. For my staff, I ask your continued patience and trust.”
Your Dog’s Best Friends has operated for 20 years, according to Haire’s statement.
Sanders is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, Feb. 12.
Related coverage: Former Your Dog’s Best Friends groomer found guilty of felony animal abuse in dog’s death