Help! Opinions please.

[tlcst3]

Hello all. I recently had an incident at a national pet store chain that I work at and I do not know what I should do. I took my rather large dog to the store to be groomed and explained to the groomers that he is a really good boy but gets really nervous and "puts on the brakes" if you try to drag him by the collar and that he has never been underneath a high velocity dryer. By the way, I have my CGC on this dog and run agility with him. After about an hour, I called the store to check on him and they said he pulled alot under the dryer so they removed him and were dryer him elsewhere and was now fine. I then went to pick him up 2.5 hours later. When I arrived I immediately knew something was wrong. He was panting terribly and his breathing was raspy and gurgly. I immediately rushed him to an emergency clinic over an hour away and found out, after having his radiographs analyzed by a radiologist that his hyoid was hyperextended and there was swelling around the trachea and pharynx. I now have him on steroids for several days and there is still a possibility that he has pharyngeal paralysis and will need emergency surgery. I am beside myself and do not know what to do. I do not want to face everyone at work tomorrow and am a little lost as to what to say.

Thoughts???

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[critterfixer]

Oh wow. First, I am hopeful your dog makes a full recovery.

I would contact the manager and let them know your dog is under the care of the emergency clinic for an injury sustained in the store. Let him or her know you will keep him or her fully apprised but that you will be expecting full compensation for the veterinary bill.

I think I would also say that given the circumstances, you will be taking a few days off work and you would like to be kept informed as to the results of the full investigation you are certain will be lodged into this incident.

If your manager gives you any grief AT ALL, remain calm, but professional, and document, document, document, because you may need to file for legal recourse in the event they do not willingly compensate you for the vet bills.

 

[twelvetigers]

I never thought I'd say this, but it there a lawyer in the house?

If he does indeed need surgery, I would seek reimbursement plus suffering - imagine if something similar happened to a child while at a daycare! Good grief!

I'm sot sure WHAT you should do really... you could start with a letter to the store manager, district manager, and anyone else you can reach higher up. Try and remember (or find out) the names of the employee(s) responsible. This sort of thing is just unacceptable.

And OF COURSE, I hope your dog is okay!! My goodness. Poor pooch.

 

[pressmom]

I am so sorry! I don't know what you should tell them tomorrow. I know I would document everything. If you have to have the surgery and if you want them to pay for it, you may need to hire a lawyer.

Other than that, I agree with a lot of what critter has said.

 

[TCVM808]

How devastating!! I will be keeping your sweet pup in my thoughts.

 

[OSJ]

You won't be able to claim suffering, so I'd cross that off the list. Pets are usually considered property, unfortunately.I would make sure you contact the store manager ASAP and file a report. If your dog was unmanagable they should have just called you to pick him up (or just not dried him!!) Good luck, I hope he is okay.

 

[WishingnHoping]

I agree with everyone else, and emphasize that it's probably best to contact the store immediately and tell them what is happening. As for work, can you call in "sick"?

I'm rooting for your pup! If it is the dog in your avatar (is he a mountain dog?), he is beautiful. I hope everything goes well and he is back to 100% in no time!

 

[VAgirl]

As for work, can you call in "sick"?

I'd think it best not to call in sick if you can avoid it. If the place found out that you did so when not actually sick while also seeking damages from them, that might help put their panties further in a bunch. I have nothing to base this on other than people getting extra out of whack when they feel you didn't follow protocol.

I'm so sorry to hear about your puppy. Please keep us updated on how he's doing. I hope he gets better very soon!

 

[twelvetigers]

You won't be able to claim suffering, so I'd cross that off the list. Pets are usually considered property, unfortunately.I would make sure you contact the store manager ASAP and file a report. If your dog was unmanagable they should have just called you to pick him up (or just not dried him!!) Good luck, I hope he is okay.

I think you could claim YOUR suffering (due to your dog's trauma)... but the dog's suffering, probably not. It's silly. I'm mostly just angry here... puting myself in your shoes and thinking of just how P'ED OFF I would be at the ignorant sum'b****es. Grr.

I agree, definitely document everything possible. That's always important.

 

[Nexx]

I'm sorry to hear about your dog, and hope he gets better soon.

I concur with the idea that you should probably go back to work. **** happens at clinics (or grooming facilities as the case may be). I have a tad of an incling (and don't jump on me for being insensitive) that you you may be a bit overly sensitive when it comes to your own dog which is understandable.

However at this point in time there are several unknowns. Your dog may not require surgery. It may all just be soft tissue damage and inflammation hence the steroids. Give things time to cool off, you should understand that despite your warnings of your dog being timid that he could have easily caused the damage to himself and it been unavoidable (think: dog pulling away from rabies pole shaking head), another unknown that we don't know the full circumstances.

Was there no other alternative than to bring him to an e-clinic? Was there no clinic open when you picked him up? If it was a Petsmart, was Banfield open? These aren't attacks, just some food for thought about the situation.

Unfortunately in any vet procedure (grooming or otherwise) there is inherent risk, of which you as the owner may have to pick up the cost on. Just like with vaccine reactions, complications during surgery, etc. If you want this company to pay, you are going to have to approach them calmly and rationally and be able to show that their actions (or gross negligence) caused injury to your pet. You probably won't have a case but then again, it is a large company so if a lawyer were involved they might settle. And as stated you aren't going to get pain/suffering for you or your pet, but you will get costs for vet bills and maybe court/legal fees (if it came to that, and frankly anything above that is probably being a bit greedy as the main point is to get your pet healthy again)

 

[david594]

I think you could claim YOUR suffering (due to your dog's trauma)...

Have you guys been keeping up on the news of issues like this? Read this article before you going telling someone to try and sue for pain and suffering. http://www.dvmnews.com/dvm/News/Ver...istress/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/514793


It could have very significant affects on the field of veterinary medicine depending on how it turns out.

 

[tlcst3]

Thanks for the support guys. My dog is doing better today.

To respond to some of the comments, I am not an unreasonable person and am very aware of the risks that we take when leaving our animals in the care of others. If I gave the impression that I was blaming the incident on any one individual I am sorry and recant that statement. My concern was that I had to tell the manager why I was not coming to work, which led to other questions and I had to explain what happened. I do not like to make waves and did not want to go back to a bad working environment (everyone mad at me etc). I was really just looking for support as to how to handle the situation when I do return because the reason for my absence is now known by everyone.

 

[dpcdoc]

I think the truth is all you need to say. You certainly have done nothing wrong, and if there was any misconduct by an employee of the store, it needs to be brought to the attention of the management so it does not happen to anyone else's pet. Best wishes to you and your pup.

 

[WishingnHoping]

Oooooh, I didn't realize that you worked there (I missed that part). Yes, better off to go to work! I was thinking that you're job was somewhere else. I'm glad your pup is feeling better!

 

[Nexx]

Glad to hear about the news as well.

Also, with regards to my post, don't take it as a personal attack. I have this habit of always playing devil's advocate

 

[VAgirl]

I was really just looking for support as to how to handle the situation when I do return because the reason for my absence is now known by everyone.

Probably the best thing to do is to talk about it as little as possible at work (i.e. not at all). It's one thing to talk to your manager to explain your absence, pursue restitution/disciplinary action for the grooming staff responsible with the appropriate management figure, etc. (which I do think could be very appropriate in this situation). But talking about the situation with coworkers will seem akin to gossip (since the business you have an issue with is linked to the place you work). Of course, gossip happens at work environments all the time, but I think it'd be best to stay above that kind of thing. Beyond the fact that I loathe the gossiping and back-biting that always seems to go hand-in-hand with some clinics, labs, etc., if you are trying to pursue restitution, it's best to keep your nose clean so no one can accuse you of malicious intent, badmouthing, etc.

I hope your pup continues to improve and is back to his old self in no time!

 

[rachroo]

Beyond the fact that I loathe the gossiping and back-biting that always seems to go hand-in-hand with some clinics, labs, etc.

Ahh, I'm so glad that I'm not alone in this problem!!!

 

[Pomona2006]

First off - I am so so so sorry to hear about your pup! It's amazing how even when people are warned about a dog that they somehow think they know better or will be the one to determine the "truth". But that's beside the point.

As for how to handle work - the mature thing would be to show up (unless you really need to be with your pup). I would communicate your experience to a supervisor/manager if you believe that it will help. (And by help, I mean help your situation or maybe prevent other animals from sustaining similar injuries.) Of course, I am not sure what kind of employment situation you are in, but I would not personally follow-through with anything legal unless your dog does in fact need an emergency surgery and the vet can determine that the injury sustained was due to the way the dog was maltreated while being groomed. This may or may not be a difficult thing to prove.

While I do not claim to be a lawyer, I have 2 attorneys in my immediate family and I would recommend that you speak to an attorney before pursuing anything legally because of your employment situation. First of all, if they are your employer, they might have some clause in your contract regarding arbitration. Some companies do that to prevent huge law-suits by requiring employees to "sit down and talk it out". Also, were you a paying customer just as anyone else? If that is the case, then might you have signed anything that waived rights / gave consent? Whether or not you are a paying customer may be the key factor here, legally speaking.

In any case - good luck and I really hope it doesn't come down to emergency surgery OR legal action! No one likes either of those!

 

[Gordo]

I would say go to work. Tell the manager what happen not to be a complainer but to prevent this from happening to other dogs. That would be my main concern and ofcourse my own dog. But I do think that it should be addressed. Maybe you don't have to name names but just explain what happen and everything that has come from this. Have them imagine if you weren't an employee but a customer, I am sure some people would have brought it up as soon as they picked to dog up. Good luck to you and I hope your dog is ok.

 

[Pandacinny]

Unfortunately in any vet procedure (grooming or otherwise) there is inherent risk, of which you as the owner may have to pick up the cost on. Just like with vaccine reactions, complications during surgery, etc. If you want this company to pay, you are going to have to approach them calmly and rationally and be able to show that their actions (or gross negligence) caused injury to your pet. You probably won't have a case but then again, it is a large company so if a lawyer were involved they might settle. And as stated you aren't going to get pain/suffering for you or your pet, but you will get costs for vet bills and maybe court/legal fees (if it came to that, and frankly anything above that is probably being a bit greedy as the main point is to get your pet healthy again)

I agree with parts of this. However, I feel it's necessary to point out here that vaccine reactions are often *not* simply the owner's responsibility - the manufacturer will often reimburse the owner for vet bills incurred due to the reaction. (It doesn't even have to be a major reaction - I personally know of a case of reimbursement for a trip to the emergency clinic for minor swelling at the injection site.) Also, if the complications from the surgery were the direct result of negligence, cruelty, or in some other way the veterinarian's (or his or her employees) "fault", then in many cases the vet would reimburse the client/cover some of the care and they'd face being reported to their state veterinary board.

To the OP: be certain everything about this case is well documented. Write down, to the best of your ability, what you said to the groomer, what they said to you, and etc so that you don't forget anything and end up having to be really vague or being incorrect if you need the information later. Also, make certain your veterinarian is documenting the injury, treatment, and all care given and that they're documenting it well. (I've seen records, for example, where the entire physical exam for a dog was "PE = fine." and nothing more.) That way, if this does turn out to be a major issue and if it does turn out that the groomer was at fault, you'll have things to back you up.