MY DOG'S TAIL GOT AMPUTATED AFTER GOING IN FOR A BATH . This is a TRUE story and happened Saturday Jan. 23, 2021 at the Costa Mesa location.
On Saturday January 23, 2021 I took 2 of my Pomeranians to have a bath at the Healthy Spot in Costa Mesa. This bath was a redo from the week before because they had done such a shotty job and didn't give the sanitary groom I asked and paid for and one of my dogs was all greasy from the product they used on her. Upon dropping them off both my dogs were shaking and didn't want to get out of the car...this was observed by the 2 groomers that came to the car to get them and commented on. Noel (my pom who's tail is now gone) was especially fearful and as a side note when she came back from her bath the week prior she did not want me to pick her up and would whine when I touched her near/under her arms, I couldn't figure it out then but now I realize she was handled too roughly at the first groom and was hurting.
About an hour and a half into her bath at this second appt. I get a call from the Salon Manager telling me that Noel had sustained a "small cut" on her tail from a BRUSH (what kind of brush rips a tail open and with what force is it being used to do this??) and while it is very minor, it is bleeding a lot and probably just needs to be "GLUED SHUT" (her words), and I need to meet them at their vet immediately. (This is an 8 year old senior dog, super docile, loves to be brushed....there is absolutely no circumstance that would require that kind of force with a brush for this type of injury to occur, EVER.) Also, if it is so minor why can't I pick up my own dog and take her to my vet? There is no time for that, I have to go to their vet immediately. This does not sound minor...
Upon arrival at the vet the two employees are standing out front holding Noel. She is terrified, in shock and literally jumps into my arms. They have not seen the vet at this point and seem pretty relaxed...really? I immediately summon the vet tech to take Noel. Apparently this is their contracted vet for serious injuries at the salon...thats alarming in itself...what injuries? After the vet examines Noel's injury, they immediately come out and tell me this is way too SEVERE for them to handle, her tail is BLEEDING PROFUSELY and that I need to go straight to the emergency vet she will need SURGERY...WTF....all this from a brush Healthy Spot??
At the emergency vet, the Dr. tells me the injury is very SERIOUS, she is in extreme pain (his words), her tail has been LACERATED TO THE BONE, has a SEVERE DISLOCATION and the bones appear to be crushed. The vets expert opinion is this did not indeed happen from a brush, but appears to be a KENNEL SLAM injury, and her tail will have to be AMPUTATED in an EMERGENCY SURGERY that night. Also, she is older so there is subsequent risk in putting her under anesthesia as she has just undergone oral surgery weeks before and has a compromised trachea. Again, I thought this was a minor injury from a brush Healthy Spot?
Fast forward to now, my beautiful, sweet pure bred Pomeranian now has a nub for a tail. This injury has in turn has caused a myriad of other issues...on top of spending months in pain, not being able to get comfortable, eat, sleep or go to the bathroom properly, she is a different dog now. She is traumatized, anxious, wants to be near me and reassured all the time. Not the joyful, playful dog she was prior to this. And come to find out the most disturbing part of this story is this isn't an isolated incident, other people from all over have come out of the woodwork with similar stories of abuse and injuries at the hands of the Healthy Spot grooming salon and stories of company-wide gross lack of accountability.
This has been hell for Noel, myself and my family. Healthy Spot has been remiss in doing anything to rectify this situation. They have only issued corporate scripted responses to the public outrage and have repeatedly said things that are patently untrue regarding post injury reach-out and follow-up. When approached to take full responsibility and pay compensatory damages for the injury and subsequent fall out, they lawyered up and said they would charge me with CRIMINAL EXTORTION. FOR SPEAKING UP. Unbeleivable. My dog went in for a BATH, she now has NO TAIL! SHAME ON THEM! They are now scrubbing all negative comments on their social media and attempting to take down negative yelp reviews. So no real apology, no compensation, only big time threats and scare tactics. Great company. Not only do they not care about animals but clearly humans either.
Do yourself a favor and find a groomer who has 100% transparency and genuinely cares about the animals they work with, not a corporate chain that has little over site, does not vet or train their employees properly and when push comes to shove does not care at all about the animals they service or the people who's family those pets are a part of. read more