The call was cold, abrupt and confusing.

A PetSmart employee told Chuck Crawford his beloved dog Abby was dead and gave him info on where to pick up the carcass.

"It was a 20-second phone call. It was so crude and beyond comprehension," Crawford said. "To take your pet for a grooming, and then have them die? That is the absolute worst thing."

Crawford dropped both his corgis, Abby and Harley, off at the Toms River PetSmart for a grooming at 8 a.m. on March 29. When he got a call around 9:45 a.m., he expected to get word they were ready for pickup.

Harley was fine, he said. But Abby wasn't even at the Toms River store. The 8-year-old dog had been taken by PetSmart employees to the company's Brick store. That's where he could retrieve the dog's carcass, he said he was told.

Now Crawford wants answers.

"I have extreme anger and extreme grief. I don't know what happened with Abby, there were no health issues whatsoever," he noted. "I went through absolute hell that day. She's my little sweetheart."

Abby's death comes soon after two dogs died in a Flemington PetSmart in December 2017. PetSmart said those two deaths were unrelated.

Crawford said PetSmart employees would only tell him that Abby's death was under internal investigation.

When contacted by NJ Advance Media, PetSmart issued a statement saying an internal review was conducted "to help us better understand the timeline of events and what happened."

PetSmart, the nation's pet specialty retailer with 1,500 locations including 48 in N.J., offered no further explanation about the dog's death. The company, however, did explain why Abby was taken to the Brick store. The Toms River location does not have an in-store veterinarian.

"When Abby became unresponsive, our associates took her to a neighboring PetSmart store with an in-store veterinarian," PetSmart said in the statement. "We are deeply saddened by Abby's passing and we are in constant contact with her pet parent during this very difficult time."

Crawford sought an outside review. He took Abby's frozen body in a makeshift cardboard casket to the Animal Health Diagnostic Lab in Ewing to have a necropsy - an autopsy for animals - performed. Those results could take a month.

Two weeks ago, Abby and Harley were playing together in a snowstorm. The two dogs were like siblings, Crawford said. (Courtesy Chuck Crawford) Sophie Nieto-Munoz | For NJ.com

PetSmart said the results of the necropsy could "clarify the circumstances which caused Abby's unfortunate passing and potentially reveal any pre-existing conditions."

In order to obtain access to the necropsy results, Crawford said the company will have to go through his attorney.

Both Abby and Harley visited their veterinarian a few weeks ago. Abby was given a clean bill of health, Crawford said, but doctors gave Harley two months to live after finding an aggressive cancer. He now faces the prospect of losing both dogs.

"I've lost both of my pets. I'm extremely angry," he said.

"I'll never take my dog to a PetSmart or PetCo or any of them ever again," Crawford said. "I'll give them a bath in my garage."

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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