A disgruntled pedicurist substituted carnivorous Brazilian piranhas for trendy, callous-chomping carp at a fashionable New York City spa resulting in the chewing up of twenty-one toes, five heels, and three bunions of the spa's well-to-do clients.
Ms. Ida Mae Chow, certified pedicurist, had just been fired for insubordination from the Chez Joey Spa & Salon on Fifth Avenue. As an apparent act of retribution, she had her last three clients soak their feet in a tub full of piranhas instead of the carp.
Apparently, the three unsuspecting doyennes believed they were receiving the latest treatment for foot calluses and dead skin: tiny "doctor fish" or "garra rufa" that nibble away at unsightly foot pathology. In short order, the truth was revealed to them as sudden pain and churning, scarlet tub-water overwhelmed their senses.
While the limping victims splashed out of the shop, trailing pieces of partially-amputated feet behind them along the bloody floor, witnesses reported that Ms. Chow was laughing uproariously as she began throwing the remaining piranha in the direction of the proprietor's groin.
It was at that point that New York's Finest arrived and after announcing, "And now I've seen everything," arrested Ida Mae and provided First Aid to the victims. One patrolman was heard to say, "Too bad we need those piranhas for evidence. They'd make a great fish-fry."
