THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Briony Scott believes her 10-pound pup, Brighton, was unnecessarily pepper-sprayed by a meter reader.
“He opened this gate. He saw my dogs standing right here barking. He did not even go all the way in the yard, and he sprayed her when all he could have done is this and left," Scott said.
Scott admits Brighton can be yappy but said she’s all bark and no bite.
“I could hear her in her crate making these awful noises, and I went to check on her, and that's when her whole left side of her face, her eye, was swollen shut. Like, she was having a hard time breathing," Scott said.
Scott said Brighton has recovered but is a bit more anxious now. The man responsible is an Olameter employee. Entergy contracts with the company to read meters.
Scott said what makes her furious is that the meter reader didn’t bother to notify her about the pepper spray.
“Let's say he had gotten all the way into the yard, and he was stuck in the yard and he needed to get out because he finished his job, and he needed to leave and she was standing there barking at him. Again, she's a 10-pound dog. So I'm kind of like, ugh, but maybe, maybe I could see needing to spray her," Scott said.
KPRC contacted Entergy about the incident and obtained this statement:
“It was an Olameter employee who sprayed the dog. Entergy talked to the couple, and they apologized. Olameter contacted the customer, and they are 'working it out' with the customer. Entergy does have policies to make sure their employees are safe, but it was not an Entergy employee who pepper-sprayed the dog.
"Olameter takes this seriously. (The company) coaches employees on safety. Some people are more scared of animals than others. Entergy apologizes to the customer."
Scott is hopeful the man responsible is reprimanded and will think twice about unnecessarily using pepper spray in the future.