Coeur d' Alene Pet Resort and Doggie Daycare

Review: On Monday, November 17th, my boyfriend and I took our dog into the Humane Society for their vaccination clinic in anticipation of a trip we were taking the following weekend. She received all of her vaccinations: rabies, bordatella (kennel cough), and DPAP.

My boyfriend, [redacted], dropped our dog, [redacted] off on Friday, November 21st at about 7:15 am. When he arrived, they did not have any record of my call or reservation and could not find our paperwork. After about half an hour, they finally found my name in the computer, but still no paperwork. He filled out all the necessary forms and left our dog there. We left for the weekend pl[redacted]ing to come back Sunday to pick her up.

On Sunday, November 23rd, both my boyfriend and I arrived at the doggie daycare around 4:45 pm. They did not open for pick-up until 5 pm, but the lady working let us in. We asked for our dog, and she walked into the kennel area to retrieve her. It took her roughly 10 minutes to get our dog. She brought [redacted] in who was acting scared and seemed to have a lack of energy. The lady handed me her leash, and I saw a cut on [redacted]'s nose. Half of her snout was swelled up to roughly the size of a tennis ball as well. I asked what happened, and the lady acted confused. My boyfriend asked, again, what happened to our dog. The lady stated they had a kennel with a small metal piece that sticks out, and they try not to put dogs in it because it can cause injuries. She thought maybe someone had accidentally put her in that kennel on accident. She asked a man who had just come in to go look at the kennel. She walked out and came back with a cotton ball that had some type of medicine on it (I assume), and she swiped it across the cut. She tells us that will keep the cut from getting infected. My boyfriend told her it's clearly already infected - her whole face is swelled up. The man came back in and said there was blood in the kennel. The woman tells us it will be $52, that we got a discount for being first-time patrons. Flustered and upset, my boyfriend paid and let her know we would never bring [redacted] or any other pet back to this place. She said, "I can understand that."

The next day, my boyfriend called the manager (I believe his name is [redacted]). He told the manager what had happened and that we felt they needed to pay for veterinary care for [redacted]. He quickly agreed and arranged an appointment with [redacted] Animal Clinic. He told my boyfriend the appointment was scheduled for 4 pm that day and that he left the business's credit card number with the vet to pay for the visit. My boyfriend took [redacted] to the appointment, and they took her back to clean the wound and shave the hair around it. The vet told my boyfriend the cut was in fact a dog bite and was definitely infected. He also said it would take 3 to 5 days for a wound like that to become infected to the degree [redacted]'s wound was. Calculating that means she was bitten right after being dropped off at Paradise Pet Resort. We did not receive a single phone call the entire weekend, and it did not appear as though her wound had been cared for while she was there. My boyfriend left the vet with antibiotics for the infection and was told they could not sew up the wound because it was so infected it needed to drain.

My boyfriend spent the subsequent week giving the dog her antibiotics (Cephalexin) and draining the wound. With the proper care, the wound began to heal well. Her behavior had been quite odd the entire week as well. She appeared lethargic, sad, and fearful. After this week, she finally began to return to her old energetic self.

On Monday, December 1st, [redacted] began to cough and hack frequently, gagging herself often. Any activity or cold air made this worse, and we knew she had acquired kennel cough. We do not have other pets, and [redacted] does not interact with other dogs on a regular basis. She had not been outside the house or yard since bringing her home as we were trying to get her healed and keep her rested. We tried to ride out the illness, hoping she would get better on her own. She was staying up most of the night coughing and gagging, but did seem as though she was getting better.

On Thursday, December 4th, we decided she had gone on long enough and appeared to be getting worse. [redacted] called Paradise Pet Resort and spoke with the manager again to let him know they had allowed an unvaccinated dog to come into their business. He told [redacted] that all dogs have kennel cough naturally (which is not true), and she probably had it now because of a compromised immune system or something else. [redacted] told the manager he knew that wasn't true and felt that they needed to do the right thing. The manager stated they already paid for a vet visit - there was nothing else they could, or would, do.

My boyfriend took her back to the [redacted] Animal Clinic at around 7 am Friday morning. They worked him in, and the vet checked her out. He said she did have kennel cough, and the type of antibiotics she had taken for the face wound would not have stopped the kennel cough from taking hold as it wasn't the right type of medication. She was also not completely protected as she only had one vaccination and two are usually needed for complete protection against kennel cough. The vet told [redacted] there was no doubt she had acquired kennel cough at Paradise Pet Resort - she would not be likely to get it in her own yard. He said the face wound was healing well and sent my boyfriend with more antibiotics for the kennel cough. He also said we could give her Robitussin if she's unable to sleep. When [redacted] got to the front desk to pay for her care, he was told her last visit had not been paid for yet.

While [redacted] was at the vet, I contacted the manager at Paradise Pet Resort in order to obtain a copy of the contract he said [redacted] had signed. I gave him my email address as he said it would be faster for him to email it. After I gave him my email address, I informed him I would be filing a complaint with the Revdex.com and giving the boarding place a bad review. He told me never to call or come in again or make any kind of contact or he would call the police. I never received the contract I requested.

The lack of quality care and what appears to be lack of supervision of the animals in their care is abhorrent. Our dog was bitten and left without care for nearly 3 days, and she returned frightened and sick. We should have received a phone call as soon as she was bitten or as soon as the wound on her face was discovered. However, I feel as though the bite should not have happened to begin with. Had the dogs been properly supervised to begin with, [redacted] would not have been bitten at all.Desired Settlement: While the manager apologized multiple times, he never did accept responsibility for the actions of the employees. It appears they did not pay the vet for his care of our dog like they said they would either. While a refund of all our money would be nice, we are filing this complaint to increase the awareness of the poor business practices of Paradise Pet Resort and to make sure other people don't risk taking their pets to this place. We also wish to inform the Revdex.com of these poor business practices. No one's beloved pet should have to be put through what our dog was put through, and my boyfriend missed work in order to get [redacted] vet care. This never should have happened.

Business

Response:

In response to [redacted]'s complaint we tried to appease them but they would not accept anything from us to help the situation.They arrived to pick up their dog about 4:30 pm which is when we are normally closed and attending to the dogs needs. Because they arrived early we agreed to let them pick up their dog and the employees had to interrupt their routine to attend to their dog and that is why it took longer than normal.We agreed that there was an oversight by our employees and that it was our error for the cut being unnoticed and that is why we agreed to pay the veterinary bill, even though our agreement says we are not liable. (I will attach our agreement, which includes information about kennel cough) We are dealing with dogs and sometimes things do happen. There was no fight so we were unaware that he was bitten or scratched. Our policy is that if there is any type of squabble between dogs that we would bring the dogs involved to be looked over closely in the grooming room where there is good lighting and we can look them over thoroughly. They stated that their dog was lethargic when picked up and we have reviewed video showing the dog running around and excited to see their owner. The nose was puffy but not swollen to the size of a tennis ball. If so, I would not wait until 4:00 pm the next day to take it to the veterinarian.When they stated that they would never come back we apologized several times and said that we understand.We called and made arrangements for the payment and asked [redacted] Animal Clinic to call us for payment when they knew the total of the bill or to send it to us and we would pay by check. And we did pay that when we were contacted.The reason they were asked not to come back was because there was nothing we could do to appease them and they became belligerent and threatening. We apologized, paid the vet bill, tried to be very nice and offered a refund. When we asked what they would like us to do, they responded with threats of a lawsuit and that they were going to ruin our reputation. We are willing to return their $54.00 if that would appease them. Our contract is posted on our website and they are able to go online and get a copy.We are in this business because we love pets and do our best to provide loving care to them. We do supervise them but at times need to leave the play area to bring a dog to a customer or take a bathroom break, etc. We have hundreds of satisfied and trusting customers and do understand that sometimes things happen beyond our control. Please let us know if there is any more that we can do or if there is any more information that you would need from us. I can fax a copy of the bill from [redacted] Animal Clinic and proof of payment to you. If you would like to call me regarding any further questions you may have, my cell number is [redacted] ([redacted])Sincerely, [redacted] (owner)[redacted] (manager)