Horrible boarding pet care in Beaumont!

[patriciabd]

Hi Everybody,
I just joined this forum looking for some advice from you guys who probably know better than me how to proceed in this case.

Couple of weeks ago I travelled with my husband out of the country to visit my family (I'm not american) I left my 5 months old puppy at this place in Beaumont, CA. I thought this was a good place and also was affordable for us, we were leaving for more than 2 weeks. Days ago we came back from LAX and went to pick him up but she first didn't want to give us back our dog when we arrived because she said they needed to wash him and he was already "wet". We told her we didn't care he was dirty or wet and after discussing for 10 minutes she brought our puppy and I couldn't recognize him anymore, he looked depressed and sick! his bed and favorite toys that we brought for him were damaged and smelling terrible! We still paid more than 200 dollars and went back home to wash him. There I found ticks, fleas and he has a big hurt in the chest. He is not the same anymore, he doesn't play with us, with his toys, and he is just sleeping all the day. He also cannot tolerate light, he closes his eyes in the garden, probably she had him inside a cage or a dark room all the time. When we first arrived to leave our dog, this woman told us to not worry and everything was fine, and that our dog will tell us later for himself how he was treated. She was right, he is not the same anymore and we can only imagine how he lived there.

I would like to warn another people about this place, and also I want to know if there is any kind of animal association that can go to her place and check the sanitary conditions. She has many many dogs inside, you can hear them barking and most of them are in cages in very bad conditions.

Do you guys know what can I do in this case? Any institution that protects animals and living conditions? We pay her to take care of our dogs and she does the opposite, still there is people that don't realize because she gives them a good wash before giving them back, taking away the ticks and fleas so the owners never know what really happened to their dogs.

Thanks a lot for any input!
Patricia.

[luckypenny]

Originally Posted by patriciabd

I would like to warn another people about this place, and also I want to know if there is any kind of animal association that can go to her place and check the sanitary conditions. She has many many dogs inside, you can hear them barking and most of them are in cages in very bad conditions.

This is something that any owner should verify before leaving their pets for any period of time with strangers. Did you not hear/see this beforehand ?

Please take your dog to a vet and have him checked out thoroughly. Take pictures and have everything documented. Then call your local SPCA/Humane Society and file a complaint. You can also send the owners of the boarding facility a registered letter with a copy of the vet bill demanding they pay it or you'll be filing more complaints with a business association (Better Business Bureau in the US?) as well as opening a file in small claims court.

Your poor dog is back to his old self in no time and doesn't have any lasting trauma.

[patriciabd]

Thank you very much for your response!

Unfortunately we didnt have the chance to check the place before leaving my puppy there, and honestly I didnt expect that from an american boarding care (I have just a couple of years living in the US) but that's a lesson learned. The woman also wouldn't allow anybody go to her backyard where all the dogs are.

Anyway, thank you a lot. There should be a webpage with a list of all banned boarding pet care places so people could know about it. Maybe I ask my husband to develop a webpage and start posting bad experiences there.

Thanks again,
Patricia.

[BenMax]

Lucky Penny is 100% right - Report this. Do not let this pass by. Do whatever you must to have this place investigated. There may be more happening there than realized.

LP's advice is GOLD. Don't not sit back - take action. You may be saving lives here. Because this horrible incident is over for you, please think of other animals that will suffer if they are not reported...infact one must be suffering right this moment. Please be their voice!

[ScottieDog]

Patricia, first I am very sorry that this happened to your sweet puppy. You mention something that is a huge red flag. You said that the owner would not allow you to see her entire facility. Anyone wanting to board an animal should be allowed to see the living and play quarters where their pet will stay. I can understand that a facility may want to bathe a pet before sending him home if the dog has played hard and gotten a little dirty. Two weeks of boarding for $200 is also a concern. In my area (south-eastern U.S.) boarding runs around $40 a day.

Please take your concerns to the Better Business Bureau. Your state's department of agriculture may also be a resource for you as well. Personally, I would also take my story to any local news agency that does investigative reporting and see if the network/paper has a consumer advocate to check this place out as well. Get this public and help others not make the mistake you made.

I would also want to take my puppy to the vet for a check up to make sure everything is well with his health. I would ask the vet to check for any potential bites from other animals (since you mentioned a chest injury) and ask how long to wait to check for parasites.

I guess you know now that you really must investigate any place you will leave your dog. You should be given an escorted tour of the facility. I would also recommend making an unscheduled visit in addition to check out the kennel. Another option is to find a bonded pet sitter who can visit your pup in the home when you travel. And make sure to check references. Please don't let this drop. I hope your pup can get over this trauma.

[BenMax]

Originally Posted by ScottieDog

Patricia, first I am very sorry that this happened to your sweet puppy. You mention something that is a huge red flag. You said that the owner would not allow you to see her entire facility. Anyone wanting to board an animal should be allowed to see the living and play quarters where their pet will stay. I can understand that a facility may want to bathe a pet before sending him home if the dog has played hard and gotten a little dirty. Two weeks of boarding for $200 is also a concern. In my area (south-eastern U.S.) boarding runs around $40 a day.

Please take your concerns to the Better Business Bureau. Your state's department of agriculture may also be a resource for you as well. Personally, I would also take my story to any local news agency that does investigative reporting and see if the network/paper has a consumer advocate to check this place out as well. Get this public and help others not make the mistake you made.

I would also want to take my puppy to the vet for a check up to make sure everything is well with his health. I would ask the vet to check for any potential bites from other animals (since you mentioned a chest injury) and ask how long to wait to check for parasites.

I guess you know now that you really must investigate any place you will leave your dog. You should be given an escorted tour of the facility. I would also recommend making an unscheduled visit in addition to check out the kennel. Another option is to find a bonded pet sitter who can visit your pup in the home when you travel. And make sure to check references. Please don't let this drop. I hope your pup can get over this trauma.

Extremely well put with alot of very informative advice! ScottieDog - I would want you on my side!

[kandy]

When you took your dog in, did you sign any kind of agreement with the facility? If so, you need to check the fine print on that document. You may have already agreed that you relieved the facility and it's owners/employees from any and all responsibility no matter what happened to your dog. Chances are, they know exactly what kind of service they provide, and they take the steps to protect themselves from the backlash on that. In the future, beware of companies that offer you such a big discount on what others charge for the same service - it usually means that you will get what you pay for. In other words, a well run and respectable boarding facility will have to charge a rate that allows them to stay in operation - anyone who is charging a price that is significantly lower probably isn't giving anywhere near the level of care. And like ScottieDog said, any boarding facility that doesn't want you to see the entire facility is hiding something.

I'm very sorry that your pup has had this experience. Hopefully he'll be back to normal in no time.

I would also suggest that you call City Hall in Beaumont to make sure that this business is even licensed to do business in the city. You may find that there are laws regarding those types of operations within the city limits. I hope that you pursue this, but also a word of caution - be sure to clarify any statements you make regarding this boarding facility as your personal opinion so as not to open yourself up to a slander/libel lawsuit.

[Kahne9Lover]

I'm sorry sorry to hear what you are going through. When we left for a week in South Carolina, we boarded both of our dogs at the vet's. It was a little more expensive, but we felt more secure that if either got ill, they were in the best care, also my dogs LOVE the vets, so we weren't leaving them with strangers.

[Tundra_Queen]

This is terrible, your poor puppy!!

Like the others have said, do not let this go by! Report them to everyone that was mentioned. You don't want any other owners and pups to go thru what u and your poor pup did!

Debbie

[CearaQC]

Oh my terrible news.

Reminds me of the Dickens stories of boys being sent away to "school" and live in filthy conditions with barely anything given them so the owners of the establishment could rake in as much money as possible. (Great film adaptations of Nicholas Nickleby made in the past)

Take your pup to the vet for a checkup.

And definitely report that facility.

:sad:

It's in California? Look them up in the Better Business Bureau and see if there are any other complaints.

Edit: After a quick web search I found other complaints about this facility with stories similar to yours dated from July 2009 but not on the Better Business Bureau website. And there are two listings with two different business names listed on the internet, both with the same physical address but with different telephone numbers.

On the BBB website

This company's business is boarding and breeding of animals. As well as a grooming service which is available for dogs only no cats allowed. Breeder of Yorkshire terriers, basenji's and Welch Terriers. AKC certified breeder.

[patriciabd]

Thank you very much for your advices. My puppy is slowly getting better, we are spoiling him a lot to compensate the horrible time he experienced at that place. We are also checking with the City Hall and will ask them to review their license and sanitary conditions.

If you want to know more about this place (unfortunately I found this too late):

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid...43774183903019

As somebody says there, the place is really like a concentration camp for dogs!

Thanks again,
Patricia.

[bendyfoot]

wow, just saw this now. it's definitely always a good idea to thoroughly check out any place your pet will be boarded, see the kennels, the runs, the walk/feeding schedule, the cleanliness/sanitation practices etc. etc. We had to start boarding our guys this Xmas after we lost our pet sitter. I had booked them in a nice-sounding place with good recommendations before seeing the facilities. My gut told me to stop by and have a look, and I'm glad I did! Rather than clean kennels with adjacent outdoor runs, I found basically a garage with about 15 different crates with dogs in them, randomly spread around the room. That was it. No space for water dishes, no outdoor access, nothing. I ran back to my car, and called them to cancel as soon as I got home.