doggy daycare workers, how violent does a dog need to be to be kicked out of your facility?
weird question maybe, but my family is making me feel really unjustified in my decision to quit my job. i worked at a boarding and daycare, i loved it so much.... until i started to get anxiety after noticing patterns and issues that didnt ever get addressed. i just can't justify some of the steps the company made the managers take in i can only assume the sake of more money
for example, here are some things that would happen;
- daily physical fights, typically with the same dogs who would start it
- a dog with 40+ (reported) incidents on file, ALL about being violent & randomly snapping with other dogs in camp as well as (badly) biting an employee when being pulled away. still allowed in camp just allegedly being put in training
- two dogs who dislike eachother (which everyone knew) biting an employee when they inevitably fought and had to be pulled apart and then when requested it got denied to have them separated and switch every couple of hours (which is something that's offered, and not taken advantage of enough likely cuz it's annoying to do)
- one dog being sick, still allowed to stay, and causing an outbreak throughout the facility
- continuing to board dogs that were infectious and very ill (who were brought in that way)
- pushing 50+ large dogs in camp with typically 2-3 employees for them all
- evaluations only ever allowed to be denied if a manager says so, managers 9/10 would say yes when they weren't there during the evaluation. almost every dog would be a pass even when everyone agreed they shouldn't, and only didn't if it was seen as super dangerous
- two dogs who prior got into a physical altercation, one being left in stitches... the aggressor was allowed back into camp
- on top of that the injured one was brought back to camp barely being healed because the owner wanted us to take him (and we didn't say no)
- boarding dogs that had warnings on their doors like "do not linger" because they would go insane in their room if you stood near it too long or "do not leash or harness" when it's a big dog so... how do we take them from place to place without that? but then doing it they're aggressive towards us?
also want to mention the staff physically having to pull and restrain dogs was because of the fact spray bottles did not work, neither did noise paddles, and typically things get too crazy for anyone to think.
and anytime i brought something up it was always one of those "oh well, we deal with it cuz nothing will ever change"
i just really.... really don't feel like it's fair to the dogs we have. it's not fair that we have to spend out time watching a specific couple of dogs because they could snap at any moment. it's not fair we put other dogs in possible danger. it's not fair we put employees in possible danger. isn't it bad to work at a pet place, and know that you yourself would never bring your pets their for THEIR safety??
is this really how every dog daycare is? that's why my family is telling me, and if it is... then yeah i'm never taking my dog to one ever. and i want to still work with animals of course.... but definitely not at facilities that allow this
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EDIT:
i just wanna add this and say thanks to everyone who helped me realize this truly isn't okay. i wanted to trust my gut but was being told that that's just "how it is when you work with animals" and with the fact im so desperate to find my way into this field i tried to believe it at first.
i've been trying to get into the animal field my whole life, im starting college soon specifically to get a degree in animal care because it's what i want my career path to be. which, if you know, getting ur way into some of these animal focused jobs prior to having ur degree is so hard. but it's super helpful for the long run to.
so, i got super excited at the opportunity of this job and i feel like that made me kinda try to tell myself i was overacting. but as time went on i just couldn't justify it anymore. i just felt so bad, and i felt even worse when sharing my views and having everyone agree yet NOTHING changed.
i have already quit, and am moving on to try and find other opportunities with animals, moreso exotics since that's what i truly want to work with in the long run. but i will settle for anything if i must, and at least this job gave me professional experience so finding something else might be easier this time.
wish me luck <3