The business will also be required to pay $150,000 in civil penalties and investigative costs, Bay Area officials said.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A popular pet resort has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought forward by San Francisco prosecutors, accusing the business of health and safety lapses at its facilities.
Prosecutors say employees at Wag Hotels around the Bay Area failed to report dog bites and mistreated pets left in their care. They also had insufficient employee training on animal care and safety protocols, lapses in facility hygiene and pest control, officials said.
These issues violated California’s Pet Boarding Law, according to officials, and following an investigation into the business, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office sued the company.
“For many of us, pets are members of the family,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement Friday. “When we drop them off at a boarding facility, we do so expecting that they will be treated like beloved family members.”
Wag Hotels has been embattled for many years, and during that time, it faced several accusations from customers, according to Santa Clara County prosecutors.
In 2019, a dog attacked four employees at one of the hotels in Santa Clara, leaving them hospitalized, prosecutors said.
A spokesperson with Wag Hotels told Patch that the incidents at their Bay Area locations were isolated and occurred several years ago.
The spokesperson said those incidents were exceptions to the “hundreds of thousands of visits” pets have experienced in the company’s 20-year history and that any issues have already been addressed at their businesses.
“We are pleased to have reached a favorable resolution that fully reflects the commitment of the governmental entities and Wag Hotels to provide the high standard of pet care to the pets and people we serve,” the spokesperson said.
As part of the settlement, Wag Hotels will have to implement several operational reforms, prosecutors said.
These include creating and maintaining an animal welfare department that will need to be overseen by a qualified animal safety coordinator, having an on-call veterinarian or emergency pet hospital, keeping detailed records and timely reporting of dog bites to local health authorities and implement a new safety program to ensure pets are properly supervised when playing with each other, officials said.
The company will also have to pay $150,000 in civil penalties and investigative costs, Bay Area officials said. They won’t, however, have to admit any liability, they added.
“We are pleased to reach this settlement with Wag to ensure our furry friends are in good hands,” San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a statement Friday, adding that he was grateful to see a “paw-sitive result.”
The terms of the settlement, the Wag Hotels spokesperson said, will help the company avoid the “cost and distraction” of litigation, instead focusing on providing “exceptional care, safety and service.”
“Wag Hotels’ dedicated caregivers are passionate about providing our furry guests and their parents with the loving care that has made us their trusted choice for their pet’s daycare, boarding and grooming needs,” the company’s spokesperson said.