Bark'r Boutique the Cat's Meow

20 Sep 13 - Bark’r Boutique and Dislocated Right Hip of my 13 year old Border Collie Mix. No names.

I got a call at 1430 informing me only that my dog was ready for pickup. Upon arriving the business owner explained that my dog had hurt himself after pulling back during a nail trim and fell to the grooming table while standing on the table. My dog was holding his right rear leg up and unable to put any weight on it. The business owner stated she had attempted to massage the soft tissue, however, my dog was still unable to put any weight on his right rear leg. My dog isn’t able to talk. I stated I’d now have to take my dog to the Vet. The business owner replied to send her the Vet bill. My dog walked in to Bark’r Boutique under his own power several hours earlier. I had to carry my dog from Bark’r Boutique to my vehicle because he was maimed. My dog has been taking Rimadyl over the last number of years for an arthritic hip. My dog otherwise had no medical condition involving his right rear leg or hip upon entering Bark ‘r Boutique.

I was at my local Veterinarian within 10 minutes of picking my dog up. My Veterinarian concluded through examination and radiology that his right rear hip was dislocated. The right hip joint is clearly out of the socket. My dog was in extreme discomfort and completely unable to walk Friday. It was obvious to anyone at that time he presented on Friday to the Veterinarian that we had to do something. We scheduled my dog for surgery at the earliest opportunity on Monday, 23 Sep 13.

I noted some improvement Saturday in his overall mobility. Sunday however is when I detected that he had regained probably 70% functional mobility, despite his dislocated right hip. I videotaped him walking around the back yard on Sunday. I showed this videotape to my Veterinarian the following day, Monday, 23 Sep 13. I did not wish to proceed with the surgery because he had made such remarkable progress over the preceding two days. I wanted a second opinion on how best to proceed. We set up a surgical consult for Tuesday, 24 Sep 13 with a board certified Veterinary Surgical Specialist (VSS) in Spokane. The surgeon concluded, given my dog’s age, it was best to leave him as is with his dislocated hip and not proceed with surgery

I built a ramp from my kitchen down two steps to the patio which my dog had difficulty negotiating.

I sent a demand, certified/return receipt, for reimbursement on 30 Sep 13 to Bark’r Boutique in the amount of $417.66 for Veterinary bills. Bark’r Boutique received it on 2 Oct 13. I received full payment on 3 Oct 13.

I have no doubt that my 70 pound dog was dropped onto the floor while being lifted onto or off of the grooming table and or he was allowed to fall off the grooming table onto the floor. There was no restraint system. I strongly suspect amateur and untrained groomers played a key role in this incident, probably so undisciplined that I question their suitability for fast food employment, let alone working with live animals.

The nature of this significant impact injury allows one to make common sense assumptions about how it occurred, far more, than if the injury was, for example, a mere muscle strain. It causes one to look hard at Bark’r Boutique’s explanation about what happened. There’s a cause and effect association to a dislocated hip and being dropped onto the floor, less so with falling onto the grooming table while standing on the table. On picking up my dog, there were about five employees at the receptionist desk, all within six feet distance from where I was, who were able to overhear the owner’s above explanation about what happened. No one at the time knew the injury was a dislocated hip.

I’ve been unable to reconcile my dog’s injuries with Bark‘r_Boutique‘s explanation about what occurred. The court of public opinion and the reasonable person test.

My dog has regained 85% of his former mobility which I’m grateful for, however, he still has a dislocated right hip sustained while in the care of Bark_Boutique.

This place is simply GREAT. Margaret was very friendly, knowledgable, and helpful when I took our cat (a fluffball of a Persian) in for a cut and clean. Not only was the cut excellent and the price reasonable, but THE DAY AFTER we took him there, we received a letter of thanks in the mail for choosing them! Talk about customer service.
We had had a bad experience at another groomer and decided to try Bark R Boutique (Cat's Meow, whichever) for the first time, and as long as we live in Spokane we'll be bringing Charlie here for haircuts. Our cat can be kind of an [redacted] when it comes to touching anywhere but the top of his head, so Margaret is a true professional for taming the beast. I would highly, highly recommend this clean, friendly business to anyone!