I dropped my dog off at Marsean Kennels this arvo for a grooming session. I picked up my dog a few hours later and found a gaping wound (about 2-3cm long and 1cm wide) on the back of my dog's front right leg when I reached home (it wasn't bleeding but the skin had broken completely through - it was just flesh showing).


(Brown patch is the antiseptic applied by the vet)

I brought my dog back immediately to confront the groomer, he admitted it occurred while he was clipping the fur on my dog. He offered me a refund and refused to pay for any medical costs.

As anyone would have done, I brought my dog to the vet immediately and the vet recommended stitching as the wound was in a high activity area. Total costs would come up to $400 thereabouts.

I rang the groomer from the vet and let the vet speak to the groomer, advising him of her diagnosis, recommended treatment and costs. The groomer steadfastedly refused to pay for the treatment, stubbornly claiming all that was required was antibiotics and some bandages even though he was not a qualified vet.

Now I am not seeking to be gain anything from this, just looking for some fairness and justice. I mean, it's only right that he should have to reimburse me for any medical costs for treating my dog. He did not at any point apologise, or even offer to subsidise the costs.

For anyone who is looking for a place to groom their dogs or place their dogs in a kennel temporarily, please stay away from this place.

Marsean Kennels
20 Fraser Road
Canning Vale
WA 6155
www.marseanboardingkennels.homestead.com

Are there any dog lovers on here who happen to be lawyers and would not mind helping me out by righting this wrong? Isn't this a case of negligence or something like that? They claim to be Professional Groomers.

If possible, I would like to see this mob punished for their indecency and outright bastardness. Please spread the word around if you can.

Many thanks from me, and my poor dog Muffin who will have to go back to the vet tomorrow morning for anaesthesia and stitching, and probably another 2-3 weeks of painful recovery.

Cheers,
Michael
eklim.michael@gmail.com

For a minute there I thought this might have been a diff topic

Soz to hear about ur doggie Mikey. Complaint letter to the Kennels with CC to ministry of fair trading normally should do the trick. Be sure to document all correspondances to ensure u can substantiate your claims if, touchwood, you end up in the small claims court - you have a valid claim!

I think you need to confront hte dog groomer with your pitt bull and let doggie justice prevail.

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mikey

u still got J's contact details?

usually, a formal letter from a lawyer with a proper law firm letterhead will get some +ve results

joe

Simon, problem is "Muffin" doesn't sound like the name you give a pit bull....

All seriousness, last time i took a dog to the groomers (my GF's Samoyd (sp?) last Friday) i overheard an elderly lady raise a similiar question. The reply was if there was ANY type of problem, it would be sorted ASAP with no costs etc. In fields like this, if you injure someones pet, you HAVE to pay.

Make sure they know your 100% serious. In fact if they cared about their rep, they would be encouraging vet visits etc etc

Write to Consumer Affairs, the RSPCA & then find a 'no win no pay' lawyer.

Better get a written opinion from the Vet too - sooner rather than later whilst it's still fresh in their minds/records.

Perhaps a few subtle enquiries to the ATO might be in order - did you say he wanted to be paid in cash?????????

Formal letter explaining that you've sort legal advice, copies of the invoices for costs from the vet..

Ususally people just whim in as they know they fucked up fair and square.. however you do get the occasional cowboy.

Hope it all works out Mike..

Thanks to everyone who have responded. I will be doing all of the above (except the pit bull option), and probably more. I will be posting this incident on MANY different forums including pet forums, as well as newspapers and Today Tonight etc. Like I said, the aim is not to benefit personally, but rather to get some justice and shame these people. If he had apologised or even seemed apologetic I wouldn't be so pissed off right now. The thing was he was rather rude and didn't seem like he cared much about animals at all, I wonder if he should be running a kennel in the first place, judging by the way he was handling Muffin. Any animal lover would be shocked at the extent of Muffin's wound, but instead he treated Muffin like a product rather than a living thing.

I quote him, "Yeah that must have been from the clippers. So?"

That was his first reaction after inspecting the wound. No "ooh that looks bad, poor dog" or the like. Right away he was trying to shirk from his responsibility.

Shocking.

Fred: Payment was made in cash, but no receipt was issued. He did have facilities for EFTPOS and Credit Card payments though.

Joe: I've shot J an email, as well as my law lecturer at uni (he's still a practising lawyer, not one of those theory types).

Consumer Protection: 1300 30 40 54

They will have a field day with this asshole.

As a keen dog lover and having two Beagles i do fell for the dog...but without a vet certificate you should be careful what you say here. Inherently dogs get a bit nervous at the clipping situation and accidents occur. Ok, the groomer didn’t handle the situation very professionally and surly he is covered for such occurrences and probably doesn’t give a toss loosing a customer. Give the dog a nice stake, a pat on his rear, tomorrow he be still wiggling his tail and happy to see you taking him for a walk. What a dogs life..!