I boarded my 7 month old puppy at Best Friends Pet Care in Fairfax from Friday morning (July 17) through Sunday afternoon (July 19). I had never boarded him there before and we were new clients. I picked up my puppy, Simon, at approximately 4pm Sunday; an hour after they had opened. I was charged for 3 nights of boarding even though Simon did not stay Sunday night. I was told that they are only opened on Sunday as a courtesy and that everyone gets charged the full price if their pets are picked up on Sunday. I explained that I believed that practice to be unfair and I was not aware that I would be charged for Sunday, especially since I picked him up an hour after they opened Sunday. I also did not understand that the package I had chosen for my puppy was in addition to the regular boarding fee. I was never told that information.
I was treated rudely and with complete disregard and told that "nobody else seemed to have a problem with their bills" and I "must not be able to read". I did see that the brochure did state that the packages were in addition to boarding so that is my misunderstanding; however, I did not see where I would be charged a full day on Sunday. I continued to complain about the charges and the receptionist (Lauren) would only say "I will show you an itemized bill". The itemized bill did nothing for my complaint. I paid the bill while the receptionist continued to talk on and on about how I needed to read and no one else had issues understanding their bill. I told her that I had paid the bill and I just wanted my dog, she continued on her tirade and did not bring me my dog. I asked her two more times for my dog and when she still did not bring him forward, I threw his leash on the counter and told her to get my dog now. She went in the back in a huff and roughly pushed my puppy towards me. I walked out of the building and strapped my puppy into the car and then saw his bloody face and swollen lips. He was actively bleeding and his wound had not started to coagulate at all which told me she had just beaten my dog. He also reeked of urine.
I walked back into the building and demanded to know what happened to my dog and she said she refused to help me. When I refused to leave she called the police stating that she was being threatened. I did not threaten her in any way but I was furious that my puppy was assaulted, that I was overcharged, and treated so horribly. I could not wait for the police but I did tell the receptionist to please have them contact me and I would be happy to show them my dogs face and my bill. I have not heard back from anyone. I am appalled and disgusted that someone would take their frustrations over me out on a puppy by beating his face. Surely no argument justifies beating an animal.