Flippy Dog Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I've had a pretty awful experience at a boarding kennel resulting in both my dogs ending up under veterinary care. The owners were negligent and incompetent to put it politely and have left me with a broken heart and a dog still under veterinary care. I'm trying to work out where to go to make some serious complaints, before I take legal action. I'm determined that they be held accountable for the injuries to my dogs and I think they should have paid the vets bill as well... I don't want to go into more detail other than to say it's not about the money, but that they caused the injuries and distress to my dogs through clear incompetence... I know I'm going to need a solicitor, but prior to that I'm hoping to do some research and work out just where I stand and my chances. Thanking you in advance for any suggestions in where to go for advice. (I apologise if this has already been covered in an earlier topic, I went back 4 or 5 pages and couldn't see anything. Happy to be sent to read an older topic if there is one that covers this.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Sorry this has happened to you. Have you asked them if they'll cover all costs? Regardless of what action you take, this should be the first step. If you hire a solicitor and then they agree to cover the vet costs you'll still need to pay your solicitor - you could be up for thousands before it goes anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphra Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 IN NSW contact Fair Trading (http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/default.html) and ask advice. I think there is a Small Claims court system which you can use, but you'd need to get advice on how that works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flippy Dog Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Thanks Megan, yes, we definitely asked them to cover the vets costs and were told in pretty foul language that no way would they pay and that it was our fault (how??) and even told us that we were horrible owners who didn't care about our dogs because we did not cut short our weekend away to come back and get our dogs... For what it's worth, I spent three of the four days away incredibly distressed (headaches, migraines, unable to eat, sleep or participate in activities) because of them and because I could not get back to my beloved dogs to get them away from these people. Thanks Aphra too, I'm assuming that it will end up in Small Claims court. I think this is still a process that does not require legal representation so costs are less. For me it is more about making sure that these people are made to comply with the standards so that nobody else goes through what I have. At the very least I'd like to find a supervising body of some sort that can inspect them regularly to make sure they are doing their job and doing it properly or quit rather than cause harm to another dog or cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 There is a Code of Practice for minimum requirements for boarding establishments in Victoria that is legally binding. Department of Primary Industries is responsible. Perhaps there is something similar in NSW? Very sorry to hear of your troubles. Hope your dogs are on the mend soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 That sounds horrible , all the best with it. Hope your dogs are ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grammarous Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Sorry to hear this Report them to the RSPCA maybe? There's a pro bono lawyer for companion animals who may be able to set you on the right track. Can't think of her name at the moment, but I'll dig through my memory banks and let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixeduppup Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) Thanks Megan, yes, we definitely asked them to cover the vets costs and were told in pretty foul language that no way would they pay and that it was our fault (how??) and even told us that we were horrible owners who didn't care about our dogs because we did not cut short our weekend away to come back and get our dogs... For what it's worth, I spent three of the four days away incredibly distressed (headaches, migraines, unable to eat, sleep or participate in activities) because of them and because I could not get back to my beloved dogs to get them away from these people. Thanks Aphra too, I'm assuming that it will end up in Small Claims court. I think this is still a process that does not require legal representation so costs are less. For me it is more about making sure that these people are made to comply with the standards so that nobody else goes through what I have. At the very least I'd like to find a supervising body of some sort that can inspect them regularly to make sure they are doing their job and doing it properly or quit rather than cause harm to another dog or cat. Did they contact you to tell you to come and get them because something was wrong? How long were they booked in? Pretty disgraceful either way. I would try to hold back from bad mouthing them as this could hurt you in the long run. I'd also contact the RSPCA and inform them of this kennel and also get your vet to write a report on the dogs exact conditions and how they were treated etc. Edited October 10, 2012 by mixeduppup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I am of no help to you except to say I am so sorry to hear of your awful experience you have had with a boarding kennel. That would be my worst nightmare You leave your precious dogs in the care of people who are 'supposedly responsible', professional people, thinking they are safe & you are doing the right thing I hope your poor pooches make a speedy recovery & suffer no side effects from their ordeal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 The CTTT is the first point of call for small claims (up to $30,000)... You can lodge here... your application will most likely come under the "General" section, OK? http://www.cttt.nsw.gov.au/Applications/Lodge_an_application.html You can represent yourself, just make sure you have any and all documents and evidentiary items like photos and vet assessments, etc, with you when you appear. I used to represent my old company with CTTT issues, and can attest to the fact that the system there is actually pretty easy to work with - have your case well prepared and you should have them finding in your favour. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I don't know what they did or didnt do but you have a couple of avenues depending on what has happened. Fair trading and small claims will put it in dollar terms and you may get your money back but unlikely as usually their contracts when you drop them off keep them out of the liability - but there is their council, RSPCA and breaches of the code of practice for boarding establishments you may be able to make them wriggle with if its something that is covered by them. Are they a member of any other group such as PIAA or the MDBA ? If so you may be able to report them there as well. Is it possible for you to give us more info on what happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) Ooops forgot to say .Im so very sorry you have had this experience and I hope your dog makes a full recovery Some of the things which have educated me in the past couple of years which seems to be the norm in boarding kennels have astounded me. Makes you realise why pet sitting is growing in demand so quickly. Edited October 10, 2012 by Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Just wanted to say i hope your dogs are recovering okay. Depending on what actually happened, it may be worth contacting the council which they are located in. While there are occassions where animals can require veterinary attention without it being the fault of the kennel/ pet sitter etc, these are usually minor things that could have occurred regardless. There is a big difference between this and something you believe to be negligent. Having taken legal action this year against a business whose negligence nearly killed my horse, my advice is to first send a letter requesting payment of all of your expenses. If you receive no or a negative response, get a solicitor to send an official letter of demand. At this point costs are minimal. From there on in though- lawyers bills can be unbelievably expensive (and i would always allow 1/3 more than they tell you!!)Small claims may be a cheaper option as suggested by others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flippy Dog Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Thank you all so very much for your kind words and wishes for speedy recoveries for my dogs and of course for your advice on where to go for advice, hopefully I will get a result that prevents this happening to anyone else which is now my main concern - after getting my dog healthy again. Just to answer a few of the questions through the replies, when they contacted me to say there had been an accident and that my dogs had both been attended to by their chosen vet at no time did they say come and get your dogs or that my dogs were in a state that needed me to return. Until I spoke to the vet it was my intention (even if I had to hitchhike) to get back to my dogs even if they didn't need me. The vet reassured me that she would keep the most injured dog at the vet hospital for me and that my other baby would only require antibiotics tablets and no further vet treatments. She reassured me that they would be okay and that I needn't return home early - which was true, the vet and staff were wonderful. My other baby was still medicated, fed and watered, but I could see by his behaviour that he didn't get anything else in those three days, I should have listened to my heart and gone home. As it was I didn't enjoy one moment after that phone call and would have done better for me and my babies to have gone home. As suggested, people have different ideas of what is negligent and my view of negligence - which was that they ignored my explicit details as to the care of my dogs - will be a case of "he said she said" as they are denying that I gave any instructions about the care of my dogs...if I was that uncaring of my dogs why would I bother taking them to an expensive boarding facility. Anyway, enough said, tears in my eyes again, I will be seeing the local RSPCA people on Wednesday and also the local council rangers. As far as recovery, we took our border collie back to the vet for a check as her worst wound didn't look good, it's infected and I am about to put a big plastic recovery collar on to stop her licking her leg. Being such a timid girl anyway I think it's going to do more harm terrifying her than good but I'll have to try it, I'm just amazed that as soon as I buy it she stops licking her leg... Thanks again everyone for all your words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lavendergirl Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 So sorry to read that something bad happened to your dogs Flippy and hope they are doing OK. Don't be too hard on yourself for not returning home immediately - its easy to be critical of our decisions in hindsight. I think this is a good warning to people who board dogs with special requirements to make sure you put those needs in writing to the kennel in the form of an email or keep a copy of the admission form so you have something to refer back to if there is any problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flippy Dog Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Absolutely LavenderGirl, if I ever have to use a boarding kennel again (I know there are some wonderful ones out there, for the present though, I never want to take another holiday) I will resort to what I used to do years ago and do my own little flier for each of my dogs cages with all their important info complete with a photo for identification. Talk about overboard but if it keeps my darlings safe then I'll do it. Maybe some of the boarding kennels do that now for their own peace of mind, hopefully. Flipp was back to have her stitches out today finally and the infection is gone. The bucket collar thingy was a disaster, she would have injured herself in fear if I had left it on her so we now have lovely purple spray to deter her licking the wound as it finishes healing and that's working a treat. Thanks all again for helpful words and thoughts. Hope I can return the favour sometime :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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