BOARD YOUR PET ELSEWHERE!

BOARD YOUR PET ELSEWHERE!
Westfield Vet Group lost our Boston Terrier while he was boarded there. We checked our dog in on 8/20/14 for 4 nights. On 8/23, we received a phone call that our dog somehow "escaped" and was out of their care for at least 15 minutes. Their vet techs found him in the parking lot of a shopping center near route 22 east. Luckily, he wasn't hit by a car, but he did incur many scrapes and cuts on his stomach and legs. We were loyal clients for several years and will never use them again for anything. When we returned from our trip we examined the facilities outdoor area and found broken gates with openings between doors and side walls, and piles of garbage stacked around the outdoor area which a small dog like ours can easily climb on to make escaping much easier.
As mentioned by the vets treating him, other than tell us what treatments he received once there we would need to speak to management for additional information. After being promised a call by management, I had to show up in person to get a response. Management insisted they called not once but twice, to which I showed them my call log which had no record of such call. After further argument management confirmed the number in the system was correct and that they had called to which I insisted they should confirm they dialed the number correctly if they were that confident they had called. After leaving the room for a few minutes management confirmed that they had indeed called the wrong number not once but twice. After inquiring about how a small dog could possibly scale such a tall fence I was told that it had happened because someone there saw him as he was about to go over the fence but could do nothing to stop it at that point, to which I then asked why he was left alone long enough for that to happen. I was then told it would only take a motivated dog a minute or two and she shared a personal story about her own small dog who had escaped a backyard years ago by climbing a fence which resulted in his death. I then stated that she should then know the importance of ensuring that every precaution was taken to avoid this for the dogs at her facility. She assured me that since this was the first time it had happened there in 29 years (though she also stated she hasn t been with the practice very long so not sure how well supported this stat is) that they had taken every precaution. I then asked why a simple precaution such as a fence over the top of the area hadn t been installed (something that would have easily prevented this from happening) she mentioned the 29 year stat again. I explained that since she had personal experience of this nature that I would then expect her to utilize this knowledge to assess the facility and note that there was a potential hazard with an easy preventative solution that should be installed. They had to agree to disagree that everything had been done to prevent this. Aside from the fence other suggestions might include: a cleaner space without items to climb on to get up the fence more easily, gates that aren't bent and were more secure (we have photos of its condition at the time), or better supervision of the dogs while there. Overall very disappointed with the WVG management team for their lack of communication after the incident (will note the doctors were great at following up on his personal care once he was admitted as a potential trauma patient once he was caught), and their poor facility management.