It’s been a tough couple of months. People have been asking how we’re doing with the advent of the dog flu. It’s been rough, I have to be honest. We were lucky. We had no one sick; we saw no symptoms We never had to close our doors, as many places did. While we tried to keep you informed, we never had to write you a letter saying that your dog had attended daycare and played with a dog that had been diagnosed with the flu, as many places had to. While our boarding was way down, we did have dogs staying overnight and NONE of them got sick. As I said, we were lucky.
Had the opposite occurred, we would have closed our facility, cleaned it, sanitized it and waited a few days before we welcomed everyone back. We would have informed you of everything that was going on, as we tried to inform you about the whole outbreak in general, even though we weren’t directly affected. It would have been the right thing to do. I think you expected that from us. We expected that from ourselves.
I worked for some great organizations throughout my career, but there were times they did the wrong thing. They cut corners to make more money. They didn’t communicate as well as they should have. They weren’t always fair to their customers – or employees. I made a promise when I opened Rex’s Place that I would always try to do the right thing for you AND for us. I would ALWAYS try to be fair – to you, my staff AND our business. I hope I’ve succeeded in that.
I just got a message from a friend that someone she knew had driven into Evanston as their dog was expecting to stay overnight at Pet Smart. They were taking their kid to college and had made the reservations a while ago. They were turned away. Told Pet Smart couldn’t honor the reservation. There are currently some dogs staying there that have been diagnosed with the flu. They are being taken care of until their parents return. Pet Smart in Evanston has closed their boarding.
Yes, that’s right. They were turned away. The store is not dark. They are not closed. You are free to go spend your money and bring your dog in. You won’t see any signs warning you about the potential harm that awaits you. These people weren’t called to tell them not to come in. They brought their dog into an infected store to be told to turn around. I am angry, frustrated, annoyed, sad and FURIOUS. What are they thinking?
There is a tv show called “What Would You Do?” In this case, I know what I would have done. You know what I would have done. So what will YOU do? Please stay away from Pet Smart in Evanston. If not forever, at least for now. There are many other pet stores in the area: Happy Husky, Noah’s Ark, Pet Supplies Plus and many other boarding places besides us where your business would be welcome. Other Pet Smarts, if you really want to go there. Know that Pet Smart in Evanston cares so little for your dogs that they would handle a situation like this in a completely irresponsible way.
My rant is over. Thank you for listening.