By Carrie Hyde, The Spaw Pet Life Coach | March 29, 2024

As if there wasn’t enough disheartening news flooding the airwaves these days, 2024 has come with a shocking number of animal abuse stories.

From a vet who was caught sexually abusing his animal patients to a groomer accused of beating and throwing dogs and cats in her care, you may be wondering how safe your pet really is when you drop them off at a pet care facility.

Like many owners, your first instinct when considering this may be to trust your dog’s instinct. After all, if your dog wants to go inside, how bad can it be? And what if your dog balks at the entry or starts shaking the second you turn into the parking lot—does that mean the unthinkable is happening behind the scenes?

As someone who managed a large dog daycare and boarding facility for eight years, I can say with certainty that your dog is only telling you part of the story. Carrie, who has owned and operated The Spaw for 24 years, will tell you the same.

But if you can’t trust what your dog is telling you, how do you keep them safe from abusive groomers, neglectful daycare staff, and predatory vets?

The answer, unfortunately, is not a straightforward one.

Is It a Bad Sign If Your Dog Doesn’t Want to Go In?

Can you trust your dog’s instincts when it comes to judging whether or not a facility is treating them well?

The answer is yes and no.

Yes, you should pay attention if your dog does not want to go into a pet care facility they have been before. But don’t assume the reason for their fear is because they are being abused.

The fact is, most dogs do not enjoy getting baths, no matter how gentle and kind their groomer is. Likewise, the vast majority of pets loath the vet even more than we loath going to the doctor. When you don’t understand why people are spraying you with water, poking you with needles, or just taking you away from your mom, you’re going to be scared. And you’re probably not going to want to come back.

It’s very possible the reason your dog is afraid is not because they are being abused, but because they simply don’t like the concept.

I had plenty of regulars come to my dog daycare who balked at being brought through the gate. I can tell you with certainty, none of them were ever abused, mistreated, or neglected. Most of them just hated being taken away from their owners and perked up as soon as we got to the play areas. Others just really didn’t like being there, and no amount of extra cuddles was going to change their mind.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t assume a place is safe just because your dog goes in with a wagging tail.

At the end of 2023, an employee at a daycare facility in New York was arrested after video footage showed him swinging dogs around in the air by their leashes and smashing them into fences. This was a relatively busy facility with dozens of positive reviews online and many diehard customers who say their dogs love to go there.

Dogs are often more trusting and forgiving than they should be. And many are willing to put up with abuse and neglect if it means they get to play with their doggy friends or go somewhere new and exciting.

How to Keep Your Pet Safe

So, if you can’t count on your dog to tell you whether a facility is treating them well, how do you know? You have to do your due diligence. This means talking to other customers, checking reviews, asking questions of the staff, and paying attention to what you see.

Get Referrals

The first thing you should do before visiting any new vet, daycare, groomer, or other pet facility, is ask around for referrals. See who your dog-owning friends bring their pets to. If you have a vet you trust, ask them for their recommendation.

Local vets can be a great resource because they treat animals that visit these facilities. If they suspect injuries or illnesses are the resort of abuse or neglect, they likely won’t recommend that you take your pet there.

Referrals are a great place to start but don’t think a glowing recommendation means there can’t be issues. It’s possible your friends are just as clueless about what goes on behind the scenes as any customer who’s patronized a facility that later comes under investigation for cruelty.

Check Online

Once you’ve gotten recommendations for a facility, do your homework by checking them out online.

This starts with reviews. But always remember, the people most likely to review any business are those who are unhappy with the results. Be discerning when you read reviews. Is the person complaining about a service they were unhappy with or a misunderstanding that could have been resolved easily? Or are they actually insinuating there was abuse happening behind the scenes?

Go beyond review sites to see how people are talking about the facility on social media and local outlets, like Nextdoor App. Again, be aware of dissatisfied customers looking for a soapbox and dig deep for complaints with actual merit. If you find a lot of negative posts that hint at something nefarious going on behind the scenes, you probably want to avoid that facility.

Ask Questions

If a daycare or groomer passes the referral and review test, your next step should be to visit the site without your pet. Go to the location in person and ask questions. Go beyond your standard questions about their services and pricing, and ask about their staff and facility.

How many employees do they have? (Does the answer seem like enough to cover the number of pets they work with each day?)

How often do they clean? (Another clue to whether they have enough staff to provide proper care.)

How do they handle a misbehaving or uncooperative dog?

What kind of training does the staff get?

Do they require background checks before they hire?

How long have they been working there? How long has the average staff member been working there?

Most cases of abuse in pet facilities stem from over-stressed workers. If there aren’t enough people working, you can bet your dog will not get the best treatment. Why? Because the workers need to get too much done in too little time, which leaves no time for dogs who move slowly or need some extra attention before they’ll willingly hop into the bath.

Frequent employee turnover is another sign of a stressful work environment. It also increases the odds of an undertrained, underqualified employee being hired. And, potentially, an abusive employee sneaking onto the staff.

If possible, ask multiple employees the same questions. If you get vastly different answers, that’s a red flag.

One last great question to ask, especially of lower-ranked employees, is how they like working there. If they aren’t passionate about pets, you’ll hear it in their response.

Take a Tour

Asking questions is only the start of the investigation. You should also tour the facility.

I recommend doing this without calling and scheduling it ahead of time. But don’t be turned off if you are turned down for an impromptu tour. There are times during the day when having strangers in the back could be disruptive. If that’s the case, ask when a better time to come back might be, but don’t schedule anything.

If you come back at the recommended time and are turned down again, this is a red flag. Likewise, if you are flat-out refused a tour, you should be concerned.

There is a caveat to this. Many facilities can’t safely take you on a tour of the entire building. This is true of most vets and a lot of daycare facilities.

At my daycare, we allowed customers to tour our prep areas, grooming room, and the open area in front of our boarding kennels and play yards. But we never took them down the kennel aisles or too close to the yards because the dogs would go nuts, which created an unsafe environment for our animal clients.

But, in my case, we could provide customers with a closer look at our yards and kennels using our live cameras.

Having cameras available to view doesn’t mean abuse isn’t happening, but it does make it less likely that abuse is a rampant part of the facility’s culture.

Look for Clues

Anytime you’re in a pet care facility, you should be taking in your surroundings. This is true whether you have been using their services for years or are still considering them.

One of the most important clues is cleanliness. If a facility can’t promptly clean up accidents, routinely disinfect pet contact surfaces, or dust shelving in the front office, they likely don’t have time to give your dog the best care. Again, this comes back to an issue of understaffing.

Another clue worth noting is excess noise. Dogs barking is a given, but are their dogs whining excessively every time you come in? What about shrieking animals? Noise is a clue not only to how many dogs are in the facility at once but about their stress levels.

While your dog’s reaction to going to a pet facility can’t be entirely counted on, their behavior is still a clue you should take into account. Have they ever left acting much differently than they typically do? Have they ever left with injuries or sore spots that the staff couldn’t account for? Are they frequently leaving with injuries that the staff does provide an excuse for?

No matter how long you’ve used a facility, never stop looking at it with a discerning eye. Management changes happen and new employees are hired frequently, which means what is happening behind the scenes can change, too.

Bottom Line: Trust YOUR Instinct

While it is true that you can’t really trust your dog’s instincts on whether or not a facility is treating them well, you should trust yours.

Regardless of what you find out using our above tips, if your gut tells you something is wrong, believe it. Often, this feeling comes from subtle clues we don’t even realize we’ve picked up on. From an odd conversation with a staff member to multiple minor issues piling up, that feeling may have roots in real clues you’ve missed.

In the end, the only one who can protect your dog from the abuse and neglect that happens all too often in pet facilities is you.

Of course, if you’ve found a quality facility you know you can trust—one that offers the same level of care to your dog that you do—don’t take it for granted!

Great pet facilities that offer quality care and a safe space for your furry friend do exist. They just take a little extra effort to find.

By Carrie Hyde, The Spaw Pet Life Coach | March 29, 2024

Written for The Spaw by Sara Seitz, Professional Freelance Writer and Novelist with Pen and Post

Carrie Hyde is the founder, owner, and Pet Life Coach of The Spaw in Tustin, CA. Carrie’s extensive experience and understanding of pet nutrition and coaching enabled her to create The Spawdcast, a podcast dedicated to educating pet parents and pet industry professionals on ALL the options available to their pet. Her mission is to open pet-owner’s eyes to the questions they may not even know to ask, to shine light on the many myths that have been part of pet care for decades and to offer whole solutions for their pets. Carrie Hyde is a certified pet nutritionist with the goal of helping pet parents & pet professionals with a new understanding about how to care for pets in a “whole and natural” way.