Pet Hotel Catastrophe
A few months ago, my fiancé and I were going out of town for four days. We have a black lab named Koal. He is 9 years old. He is the sweetest, silliest boy, but unfortunately, he could not come with us on this trip. All our family and friends were already busy, and no one could watch him. I started looking into dog hotels to keep Koal while we were gone. I wanted a nice place where he could have his own room but also get attention and not just be left alone. I came across PetSmart dog hotel. I looked into them more, gave them a call with some questions, and proceeded to set up Koal’s stay. We dropped Koal off and left for our trip. When we came back from our trip, we went to go pick up Koal. As we were waiting for them to bring Koal out, I said to my fiancé, “I hope he doesn’t look stressed, and they were nice to him.” They brought him out and he was so excited to see us, but I noticed something very wrong immediately. His right eye was messed up, the right side of his face was swollen, and there was something smeared all over him. The first thing I said was, “what happened to him?!” The employees all got nervous as if they were hoping I wouldn’t notice. I said, “he needs to see your onsite vet right away, it looks like my dog has suffered a stroke.” They told me she had left for the night, and they were closing so I would have to take him elsewhere. They then proceeded to tell me that they “thought Koal came in looking that way.” Absolutely infuriated and in panic about what was wrong with my dog, we left and went to the closest pet emergency room. After a six-hour wait, we discovered Koal got extremely sick while in the dog hotel. An upper respiratory infection and double yeast ear infections. While in the waiting room the PetSmart dog hotel called me. They wanted to offer me a refund for the stay considering I was so upset while leaving with my sick dog and they were not doing anything about it there. I told them I wanted to know exactly what went on in the hotel, and why I was not contacted while I was away considering my dog didn’t look right. She told me Koal had had an accident in his room and that they had to throw his bed out (I totally forgot about his belongings since I was so worried about him.) I stopped her right there. I said my dog doesn’t have accidents. So that must mean no one was letting him out. Not to mention, when I picked him up there was something smeared on him, which after her story of him having an “accident” now made sense as to what was on him. So, they cleaned his cage, threw out the dog bed but left him covered in his own mess. For it to be on him means he would have been sitting and laying in it for hours, which also makes sense as to how he got so sick. Absolutely horrified as to why I was not contacted to let me know about any of this or for them to not give Koal a complimentary bath considering this happened on their watch was beyond me. The excuses I kept getting were horrendous. “We thought he came in looking that way.” “Labs have droopy eyes, so we thought it was just like that.” “It was only about an hour when we noticed the cage was messy.” At this point I was just in shock by the lack of care. I was very upset and demanding a full refund on the stay, getting my dog's bed paid for, and vet bill covered. The young women I spoke to was just a “lead,” so she had the store manager call me the next day. The next day I explained everything to him on the phone and in disbelief he told me he was very sorry, and he had no problem covering all the fees. He told me that they have been having problems with their employees and a lot of them had put in their two weeks so they may just be “mentally checked out.” The worst excuse I have ever heard, and I cannot believe he even said that. Fast forward to many vet visits and months later, Koal is ok. He healed up but his eye is still messed up from the trauma his body went through. I am very grateful he is ok, and that PetSmart helped cover the bills, but it still should have never happened in the first place. My dog was neglected, and it breaks my heart knowing how sweet he is and why someone would ever think this is ok. I feel like no one cared or cares about people's animals that go in and out of their hotel.
My personal opinion is if someone is taking care of another's animal as a career, shouldn’t that be one of the most rewarding jobs? Wouldn’t you want to soak up all the animal love and make sure you care for them the best way possible?
In this article, the author explains four good reasons as to why working with animals can be so rewarding. Lots of variety, meaning each animal is different so each experience will be different. Flexibility, a lot of animal jobs give people the option of making their own schedule to give them the best work and life balance. A sociable career choice, making bonds and relationships with not only your coworkers but the animals themselves. Providing a valuable service, giving your best to give these animals their best life while their owner is away. The author says, “Part of the joy of working with animals is giving them a service that they could not give themselves.”
In this article, this woman shares the interview questions she was asked and her answers. She has worked with animals for many years, and states how she knew she loved animals her whole life and wanted to make it into a career. One of the questions asked was, “What are some of the traits someone has to have in order to enjoy a career path like yours / working with animals?” At the end of her answer she said, “Basically, you need to be a physically fit, friendly person who loves animals and has a strong work ethic. It is also extremely helpful if you are able to interpret animal behaviors and understand their boundaries and limitations.”
Here is a picture of Koal before PetSmart dog hotel.
Here he is the day I picked him up.
Here he is almost back to normal.
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