not so good kennel (long vent)

[digiboxers]

we just picked up mimi and rocky yesterday from a vet kennel. we left them there for a week to go on vacation. rocky was getting his neutering done (he is bilateral cryptorchid) so it is a little more involved than normal neutering.

anyway, we took half a bag of dog food and two bags of wellness organic treats for them. we told them they could have a treat a day (they are the big bone shaped ones). we told them to feed them three cups or so a day.

the surgery for rocky did not go well because the vet called me to tell me that it took a while to find rocky's testicles because they were so far up in his abdominal cavity, and that they had problems controlling the bleeding, i guess for some reason the vet said that his spleen had begun bleeding during the surgery and was tough to stop.

the main point was the kennel promised that they would be fed and toenails clipped and someone would walk them during the day (except after rocky's surgery obviously).

when we picked them up, rocky looked so bad. you could see every single rib of his and even mimi looked like maybe she hadn't been fed too much. the bag of food looked nearly the same as when we dropped it off, and the bag of treats was not opened!!! besides that rocky's nails were clipped and mimi's were not, and both rocky and mimi acted weird like scared to be pet. and lastly they had scabs on the bottom of their front elbows from laying on the concrete for so long. the kennel told me not to bring their beds. . .

they never acted like that at the other kennel that we left them at. but unfortunately, the woman who ran the kennel closed her business.

sorry, long vent but we are not using that kennel or vet again.

 

[vichy]

Sorry to hear that Mimi & Rocky didn´t get treated well. How is Rocky doing now??? Sending healing vibes for him. The first times we sent Buster to the kennel we use he did come back all skinny, but I have now told them to keep an eye on him and if he doesn´t eat they have to give him meat or rice with his food to spice it up and get him to eat well. But I still hate sending him to the kennel...... but we have to as we live far away from family and old friends.

 

[StormKatz]

We had a similar thing happen to us four years ago.. to make a long story short we returned 4 days later to pick Johnny up only to find he had lost nearly 10lbs, the food we left for them to use had not been touched, & his bed was covered in long black hairs (obviously NOT Johnny's). My husband litrally had to drag me from that clinic. We took Johnny straight from there to another vet in town, & had him evaluated. I immediatly wrote a letter of complaint to the original kennel, with a signed statement from the other vet as to the degree of neglect my boy suffered, I also turned them in to our local animal control, filed a complaint with the BBB, & reported the clinic to the Veterinarian's association (I think that's what it was called).

They ended up refunding our money (which we donated, since the other vet felt so bad he didn't charge us) & a year later I found out the original clinic had shut down.

My rule when we move somewhere new, or change boarding kennels is... First I ask around (i.e pet owners, clinic's, training facilities, BBB, etc) if that part checks out I actually call the kennel in question, & ask questions (i.e how long have you been in buisness, what are your procedures in an emergency situation, etc. Lastly I show up unexpectedly & request an immediate tour of the facilities (if they don't expect you they don't have time to clean, right?) I also ask for references.

I realize this is a little pushy, but the way I see it is I'm trusting them with my baby, if their not willing to accomidate me, or if I don't like what I see I go elsewhere..period. Hubby & I will be boarding our boys in Sept of 2006, but we just moved, so we have already begun looking for kennels to use next year.

 

[Shakira's Ma]

That is just such a shame. If people want to run a business boarding animals then they should put the animal first, unfortunately it sounds like all they wanted was the money, that really angers me because I know that you are like all of us and wouldn't treat your baby that way. I sure hope that Rocky and Mimi get back to their silly boxer selfs here real soon. Give them lots of hugs and kisses and let them know that you took them there but you didn't know they would be neglected and that they NEVER have to go back there again.

 

[Jade's Mom]

That is terrible. Do the people at the vet/kennel have no feelings. Your poor babies. You should file a complaint with the city or something.

 

[madlib]

i'd rather pay a family member or friend to move into my house while I'm gone and take care of my babes. Don't think I'd ever leave em at a kennel, except for maybe one of those fancy "pet hotels"

 

[abbey_eisma]

Thats too bad. I would be so angry at the people running the kennel. I would go back and say something...to me that would be like bringing my kids (if I had any) to a bad daycare where they were neglected. Good Luck!

 

[Bryn Genco]

I am sorry that happened to you. I use to work at a kennel and we were very careful to listen to the owner's instructions. Also when it was time to leave we made beds for all the dogs. It was a pretty hard job because we took them out so much! You started at the first kennel and went down the line and then repeated that over and over. I guess you just got a bad one. I would make it a point to let them know that you were very upset. Maybe that would prevent it from happening to anyone else's babies.

 

[bubnmugoo]

we had a similar thing happen. we dropped kobe and mugsey off for four days at a kennel that was recomended to us by many people. they never even cleaned out the kennel so when we picked them up they looked like they were covered in mud, except it was a concrete kennel. we had to throw away all of their toys and blankets. we were told that we had to pay extra to have the kennel cleaned out. so what was i paying for, just to lock them in a cage and to occationally have them fed? they were both starving when we got them home. i will never put my babies in a kennel again.

 

[dieselhound]

Sorry for your hard time. We always figure, NOBODY Will love them the way we do!!