A woman’s terrifying horror story at a supposedly safe doggy day care has provoked ire from people online.
A Reddit post detailing the incident has sparked fury and a wave of similar stories from other pet owners. The poster, who left her Border collie there for a few days, was horrified to discover the day care had not only lost her dog, but had also tried to cover it up.
The owner wrote that she had to travel and chose to leave her canine, who was familiar with the place, the people and the other dogs. She kept up with the frequent updates on the day care’s Instagram stories and everything seemed fine. She only learned the truth when she returned and ran into a neighbor.
A Terrifying Discovery
The neighbor asked about her dog, and she told him she was on her way to pick him up. The neighbor then said the dog had run away and someone had almost taken him home. The owner was told the full story by the neighbor, who had heard it from two girls staying in a nearby trailer park.
“[They] found him running loose in a busy street and they were able to lure him to a pet store,” the poster wrote. “They asked if the people there knew him, but no one did. They said some people came back to the pet store with a leash and said they would adopt him, but thank god they didn’t let them.”
The girls’ instinct to protect the dog saved his life.
“I live in a big city with cars, trucks and buses,” the owner wrote. “My dog could’ve died or been stolen by someone. This breed and coat color is not cheap where I live and there are a lot of bad people who would not give him back.” The owner later added that she owes the girls everything, saying, “Those girls are the reason I still have him.” She also said that, in her country, if the girls had taken him to a shelter, he would have likely been adopted out quickly since he wasn’t chipped.
A Lack of Accountability
The owner’s heartbreaking story continued when she picked up her dog. The day care staff said “everything was fine and didn’t even mention what happened.” It was only because of her neighbor that she knew the truth.
To make matters worse, the owner believes her dog was harmed during his stay.
“I’m pretty sure someone there hurt him, because now he’s either afraid or avoidant of men and he wasn’t like that before,” she wrote. The trauma left a lasting impact. The owner had hoped to train her dog to be a therapy dog but said he “didn’t recover.”
The post sparked an outrage and an outpouring of similar stories from other dog owners. One commenter posted that canine day cares are “notoriously understaffed.”
“I know several people who’ve had terrible experiences with them,” they wrote, adding that it is very common for dogs who go to them to develop reactivity.
Another commenter who works in the industry wrote, “I worked in dog day cares and would never send my own dogs to one.” They added that the unregulated industry struggles with “far too many untrained dogs” and high turnover of staff. For some dogs, especially herding breeds like Border collies, the day care setting can be a sensory overload.
The owner summed up her regret in a reply, writing, “I’m so glad this didn’t end up worse. I posted this here cause a lot of people don’t even imagine that something like this could happen. I thought I was helping my dog.
“Watch out for where you guys leave your pups,” the owner added. “Even if it seems safe.”
Newsweek reached out to u/SwimmingDoubt2869 for comment via Reddit.