First things first: the care that the doctors give the animals is top-notch. Seriously, easily among the best. I absolutely trust them to take good care of my dog, provided I don't have to leave them overnight. For routine visits, they are wonderful, and again, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the doctors. Dr. Rozyczko and Dr. Smaltz are just phenomenal, and incredibly personable. They obviously care deeply for their work and the animals, and we trust them wholly. However, I cannot recommend boarding here, because the staff lost my dog, who I later found dead on the freeway.
The old white woman (I specify because I believe there are two older women who care for boarded pets) who walked my dogs has constantly demonstrated a lack of care for the animals. Every time we picked our dogs up, our dog's harness was improperly secured; however, she said that she was just trying to secure it quickly to get her out to us, and that's why she didn't do it correctly. However, after this incident, I don't know how much I believe that was the case. I believe that her harness was improperly secured almost every time, and this is why our dog finally escaped. If you aren't even ensuring that a dog's harness is properly secured before you take them out on a walk, literally putting their lives at risk if they escape, then perhaps you shouldn't work with animals for a living.
We'd also get our pet bedding back, unwashed and still soaked in pee, whenever she was the one to return our dogs. Our dog escaped after a walk with this woman. Though I try to be kind and compassionate to others, the lack of remorse and sympathy from her when we were there really sealed the deal for me. Perhaps it was shame, or perhaps she just didn't feel okay facing us because she was why we lost a beloved member of our family, but regardless, she was the least compassionate and kind in the whole ordeal, even actively avoiding us when we came in. I'm vehemently against people losing their jobs, but I genuinely don't believe that this woman should be working at an animal clinic given her carelessness for the life of these creatures. A small, helpless dog lost her life because of this woman's negligence, all because she didn't take the extra 60 seconds to make sure the harness was properly secured or get someone to do it right. So long as this woman works here, we refuse to ever return to this place, for any service.
And I don't want anyone else to deal with the same pain we've been dealing with since it happened. It's been almost a year, and the pain never goes away. It was my third loss within half a year, after losing my mother and grandmother just months prior. But THIS was a death that was entirely avoidable; it did not need to happen, and it was what finally broke me during an already difficult time. It still makes me want to throw up every time I drive by the stretch of freeway where I found her, and the smell of the air freshener I had in my car when I picked her up off the road will always make me sick. The trauma that has resulted from this has been much more significant than I think they necessarily realize, especially given everything else going on in my life at the time. That will stay with us for the rest of our lives, in the same way that this woman will always have been responsible for it.
Dr. Smaltz, however, was very loving and generous. The clinic paid for my dog's cremation, as well as the mementos we wished to purchase after her death, which was a very kind gesture on their part. So again, the doctors are fantastic and loving, and I cannot recommend them enough for providing medical care for your pets. But so long as this other woman is there "caring" for boarded pets, I cannot in good conscience recommend leaving your pets here when things go back to normal. Even with proper training, you can't ensure that such negligent behavior won't happen again when there is a repeated history of it, and you certainly can't repair trust that's been broken after someone has killed your dog. read more