I've boarded 4 cats and 2 dogs at Mar Mel over multiple years. Hours later today, I'm still very sad over the fact that they told me I couldn't board my 2+ year old dog with them because of the first day I left her with them close to a year ago. It was her first time being boarded, and she had separation anxiety, which I would think a reputable boarding facility would have experience with. Apparently she damaged the indoor kennel she was in, and so they moved her outside. I never saw the damage, and they never asked for any compensation, so I have no idea what that meant (visually). From there, for the remaining 3-4 days she was with them, I was told daily that she was doing much better/fine. A little shy/stand-offish around other dogs, but fine, and they recommended I socialize her. I've spent the entire year taking her to the local dog park 4-5 days a week to socialize her. She gets along great with other dogs, has never one time been involved in a fight, and I'm constantly being told what a sweet dog she is. Today, I called to set up a weekend for her to stay at Mar Mel again. I mentioned that she has had a lot more time to adjust, gets along great with other dogs. The owner told me he needed to talk to the other owner and would call me back. He called back a few hours later and told me they weren't going to take her. No questions, no trial run, nothing, just a no. I'm so disappointed. I found this dog running around in the street about to get hit by cars with no discipline and owners who didn't care about her a little over a year ago, and her 1st time being boarded was only a few months after that. If it was so bad, why did they tell me every other day but the first that she was doing fine? Why didn't they try to charge me for damage if it was substantial enough that they're going to turn my dog away close to a year later? I would have been willing to pay for damages had they mentioned it or shown me photos or anything. I guess because of the pandemic when they were struggling for cash, they were not being upfront about things? They mentioned a few times in one of my phone calls with the owner (a year ago) "the next time she's here,..." - but yeah, guess there's not going to be a next time. I don't know, I'm just really disappointed in a place I've given many hundreds of dollars to because I thought my pets were safe and cared for by experienced handlers there.
I wish I could remove the 5-star review I left them before, but apparently I can't. read more