We boarded our two dogs at Escape on Joplin in the summer of 2019 while we were out of state for 5 days. Bear stayed in private boarding and Inka was in daycare during the day. This was their first stay with Escape and we were extremely excited for Inka to have lots of play time and socialization which she just loves.
Unfortunately, on the 2nd morning, we got a call that there had been an incident during group play and that she had been attacked by another dog and left with a 3" gash on her ribs. (Thankfully that dog is not allowed back.)
Aaron (the onsite supervisor) took her to our vet to get stitched up and medicated. She then had to stay in isolation and on sedatives and pain killers. (We were told by Escape it was a flap of skin that had to be stitched but found out from our follow-up visit with the vet that the dog had actually torn into her muscle too, so there were internal and external stitches.) A couple days after that she was allowed in the private care area with a couple older dogs but wasn't able to play (and isn't allowed for at least 14 days) - and Bear didn't get to be with his sister during his private care play time. Escape picked up the vet bills, which is a given.
When we picked both dogs up after getting back into town, we were told to pay the full amount of their stay. I said I had no problem paying for Bear's stay but requested someone call me to discuss Inka's. When I spoke to Aaron, I said I'd be happy to pay for the 1.5 days Inka had there with play time but that was it. He checked with the owner, Michelle, and let me know they would comp the rest. I still cannot believe we were initially asked to pay the full amount.
One of the main reasons we boarded them with Escape is because of the live feeds advertised on their website. But their cameras were mislabeled, didn't work half the time and the private care area was never even displayed. Not once did we get to see Bear during our 5 days away and we only saw Inka the first 1.5 days. I did request a picture of her and her wound though and was emailed that. Also, when watching the feeds when they did work, several times the staff members in the play areas were glued to their phones instead of interacting with the dogs.
When we got home after picking up both our babies, we checked their remaining food bags. We packed them each 2 extra days of food just in case, but upon counting their remaining bags (labeled a.m. and p.m.) we found that Inka had 7 bags of food left and Bear had 2. We never got an answer as to why that happened but it would seem Bear was overfed and Inka was underfed - both by quite a bit.
We were very excited for both dogs to stay with Escape, especially Inka for some much needed play time and valuable socialization. Instead she was attacked, had to stay in isolation and her spirits have fallen. Inka was the happiest, sweetest, easiest going dog I've ever known, so that just kills us.
We never heard from Michelle the owner. Not once did she call or email us to check on Inka.
We gave Escape another chance in June of 2020 and placed Bear in private care boarding for 4 days. Upon arriving home after Bear's stay, I discovered they messed up his feedings (again - even though I portioned out and labelled his meals) and did not give him the approved Chuck-it Ball I sent with him to give him something to do while in his kennel alone.
I emailed Michelle directly, who proceeded to lie immediately. Her response was that Bear was given his ball but showed no interest in it, not did he have any interest in the play yard toys. I sent her a screenshot of his 'report card' which states the exact opposite.
She brushed off the meals incident without apology. I made it as simple as I could for them with his meals and they still got it wrong. These are small but important issues.
I look forward to finding an honest boarding facility who actually cares about dogs and their well-being. read more