Kathy Tanner boarded her dog, Tara, at the Dog Spot Mt. Juliet on July 8th, and picked her up on July 15th. When she arrived at the facility to pick her up, she noticed that she was just staring out the window, being still and just looking out front, which struck her as very odd behavior for her dog, as there was nothing in view but concrete.
She says an employee of the Dog Spot Mt. Juliet, who was working at the counter, kind of laughed and said “she will be tired for a few days”. What Kathy didn’t know was that her dog, Tara, would indeed stay in that exact stance for most of the time for several days after coming home, unable to even walk on her own. Kathy says that she carried Tara and put her in the car, so she didn’t immediately realize it, but her dog could barely even stand.
Kathy carried her dog up the two small steps at the back door when they got home, and then she fell on the rug, where she laid and slept from 10:30 AM until she was woke up hungry at 6:00 PM. When she woke up, she was starving, and Kathy barely got her food out before she she started eating, which she also says was unusual behavior. For the next 2 days, Kathy carried her dog up and down the steps and outside to help her use the restroom, as she was unable to manage on her own. Kathy described her dog as “weak, hungry, and traumatized” after her stay at The Dog Spot.
Five days after picking her up from The Dog Spot, she has returned to somewhat normal behavior in regards to her stance, but still has a limp, but during that time, Kathy discovered a spot on her back filled with pus on July 18th, and today found a second one. Kathy feels this could have been caused by a traumatic event, and notes that when a dog suffers an injury, it doesn’t always show immediately on the outside.
In the two days since, Kathy has discovered some more places that appear to be from an injury on her dog, Tara. She notes her hair is coming out with pus, and Tara is now scared for her to get near her legs, feet, and says she has never been like this before.
Kathy says she reached out to The Dog Spot in Mt. Juliet, and the staffed assured her via phone that Tara was not hit or kicked during her visit. We have also reached out, but they have not yet responded to our inquiry.
We recently covered the sworn court affidavit of a former employee of the Mt. Juliet location who spoke about dogs being physically hit and kicked to correct behavior.
