In October, I took my 10-3/4-year-old Great Dane who was in great physical condition and extremely healthy and active, here and saw a Dr. Smith because of a limp and a slight swelling we thought he had sustained while playing. Our old vet who had taken care of all our dogs and cats had died, and we needed to find a new one. This vet looked visually and said he had cancer (osteosarcoma) of the long bone of his leg. He did take an x-ray but no blood work and gave us pain medication and said we could refill it for the rest of his life for palliative care and left us with no hope, only euthanasia the very near future although I asked about amputation. The only thing we could do was control the pain. During the visit, they didn't talk to my dog, touch him, or show him any compassion that my dog had always received from the vet who had cared for him all his life. When we first came in, the tech talked about what a great looking Dane he was and couldn't believe he was almost 11 years old. Once the vet said he had cancer, the tech no longer had any further interaction with my dog. Not once after this visit did the vet, vet tech, or his office staff call to ask how he was getting along which all other vets in my experience have always done. I did receive several refills of his pain medication, but when I asked the last time over a month ago for the refill I had been assured would be given as long my Dane was alive, they said no more unless I bring him in for blood work even though he was in hospice care at that point. Even then, they never asked me how he was doing; I'm assuming they didn't care. We had found a new vet and even though he gave us no hope, he was compassionate toward our dog and gave us the impression he did care about him and gave us the pain medication needed. This dog meant the world to us; he was a remarkable animal - not many Danes live a week past their 11th birthday - and he deserved better care and at least a tiny bit of compassion from this vet, vet tech, and the office staff. The impression the ARK Clinic left us with was they felt he was just an old dog who had outlived his breed's life expectancy, and they didn't care about him. We will never subject another pet to this lack of care my dog received from this clinic, nor will we recommend them to anyone. read more