Banfield, The Pet Hospital Puppy abuse, knocked out tooth sacramento, California

Our experience at Banfield Pet Hospital inside the Petsmart on Truxel Road in Natomas has been less than satisfactory. We made the mistake of making an impulse purchase on the Puppy Plan for our two pups (small breed, one weighs 6 lbs, the other 4lbs) without first reading consumer reviews. The receptionist and the tech that informed us of the plan were very pleasant and friendly. They answered all of our health related questions as they cooed and complimented our puppies. The plan itself sounded like a great deal. Wed give them all their shots plus spay and neuter. We ended up paying about $450 up front plus an additional $60 a month to enroll both our pups. Not bad.

On our first visit, everything goes okay. Our puppies are not trained yet (thats why we are giving them their shots , so that we can enroll them in puppy training) so they give a few warning growls to the tech and the vet. The vet seemed to be in a hurry to get in there and do what she needed to do and get out. She did a sloppy job to say the least. She squirted de-wormer all over my puppies chest, so I ended up taking it home with me so I could give it to them myself. They had no problem drinking it up when I gave it to them. When they got their shots I held each of the pups on their turn. They growled and yelped a bit. Needless to say a note was made in the system warning that they are aggressive. Understandable.

The second visit was fine. The tech was friendly as usual. He seemed very comfortable handling the pups. This time the tech held each of the pups as the vet popped in real quick to give them each their shots. A bit of yelping and growling but a painless visit nonetheless.  

Today was their third appointment, and things went very wrong. The technician again, was friendly. He was explaining something to us when I noticed a flea on my puppys fur.  I immediately tried to grab it but the flea disappeared into my pups dense coat. I told the technician that I just saw a flea on my pup. He said they dont get fleas from slick surfaces like the one he was sitting on. He said they get it from carpets and that they live on the edge of the floor near the walls (he points at the ground). We look over at the ground and we notice for the first time the floor is filthy. There is fur in the room from previous pets. He takes this opportunity to sell us some flea medicine though (we buy it). He informs us he will go get the vet.

After a few minutes two friendly technicians pop in after the one that just attended us leaves to get the vet. Its time for my puppies shots. They suggest that they take the pups to the back one at a time so that they can give them their shots there so that its easier for them. I hand over the leash and the technician drags my puppy into the back room. The next few minutes all I can hear is loud whimpers followed by louder yelps, then thrashing, then silence, then thrashing again & whimpers & yelps. The vet was shouting at my dog to be quiet through the whole thing.  Id say maybe five minutes passed without us seeing our puppy but still being able to hear her desperate cries for help and the vet shouting at her.

When the vet returns with our pup, she has a muzzle on. She tells my wife to take the muzzle off because my pup will not allow her to take it off. My wife unsnaps and removes the muzzle to reveal a piece of cloth tightly wound around my puppys snout. When she removes this clothe a deep indentation is immediately apparent where the cloth used to be. At this point I am terrified to hand over my other pup. I reluctantly hand it over telling her to be careful. After maybe thirty seconds she comes back with my puppy and with a thud, places him on the table. She then says that our puppies are aggressive and that they cant treat them. We need to get them training. She then quickly leaves the room. This was a threat of course since the technician still went ahead and scheduled our next appointment. While the tech is scheduling our next appointment I look down at my puppy and notice that where the bottom left canine should be there is nothing but a bloody socket! I immediately bring this up to the technician who says that the tooth was already wiggly when we came in. How does she know this if they didnt check her teeth?

Granted puppies do lose their baby teeth, but if it was that wiggly my pup would have lost it on one of her many chew toys and bones. I can only imagine what went on back there. So, now one of my pups has fleas and my other pup has a missing tooth.

To prevent ourselves from going crazy on these people, I silently pay my bill at the front desk for the flea medicine and schedule my next appointment. I really hate myself for having put my puppies through this. I have no intentions of going back. I will try a different branch, and if that doesnt work out Im going to cancel the plan. Hope this review has saved you and your puppy a lot of pain.